Getaway

When you get into a taxi, you never know whose been sitting in the seat before you. Likewise, when I pick up a fare, I never know who I'm putting into the seat beside or behind me. It's scary sometimes, and it can lead to strange situations.

October 2004; I'm sitting on the rank in Stillorgan at about 3.45pm when this guy gets into the taxi breathing heavily. He is tall, skinny, with wispy red-hair and a smigeen of a beard. He is panting, a bit short of breath.

-Deansgrange Office Park, he says, and I start up the car and swing her around to head back to the lights at the crossroads.
He takes a deep breath, holds it for a moment, then exhales, blowing out the air forcefully, as though relieved about something.The lights are red, and I indicate left, before stopping on the white line. There is silence for a few seconds, before he says:
-These lights are very long, aren't they?.
-Ah, they'll change in a minute.
(beat)
-Ah come on, change, I'm in a hurry.
Eventually we get a green and we swing down the hill to the N11 where I indicate right, but these lights are red also.
-Ah no, anudder one! these bleedin' lights, thee take agis...
-No they're changing now, I reply, indicating the amber on the main road.
We get the green and continue on, up the N11, down Kill lane, across the crossroads at Dean's Grange, then into the office park on the right.
-Just drop us anywhere here, he says. -How much is that?
I tell him, he hands me a tenner and says -That's alright.
Then he's out of the car, closes the door, and I carry on with my day, thinking nothing of the incident. Just another tenner, just another fare.

But later when I get back to my apartment with my wife, having picked her up on my way home as I usually do, there's a little note in my letter box which I read as we walk up the stairs: -Dear Mr [name withheld], please contact the Gardai at Blackrock station.
I express my surprise aloud to my wife, upon which I hear my name being called from the top of the stairs.
-Yes? I answer.
A very pretty blond appears around the corner of the stairwell.
-Gardai. Do you have a moment? Nothing to worry about.
She is accompanied by an older man. Both are in plain clothes. The man says:
-Don't worry, we know from the carriage office that you're one of the good guys. Anyone who's listed there as having returned property is usually on the right side of the law.
He grins at me and I feel relieved. I lead the way to my apartment and let them in.
-Did you pick up anyone in Stillorgan today?
I think for a moment, then recall that I did a few jobs from that rank.
-Can you remember any of them?
I tell them I have to consult my logbook, which I take from my bag, find the page, then list the jobs I did from there.
-It's this one we're interested in, she says, pointing to the incident I described above. -We think he tried to rob a bank in Stillorgan. He held a knife to a woman's throat in the bank, but she fought back, and got her hand cut quite badly. He ran out and was seen by a witness to get into your car. The witness gave us the roof-sign number.

The questioning continued, and I recall as much as I can. I agree to try to identify him at the station next day, and they take their leave.
Next day at the station, I'm faced with a whole lot of pictures. I pick out one, then another. Two almost identical faces of two different people. One lives locally, the other farther away in another suburb. Both are possible suspects. They get the local one in and I have to sit behind a hatch, pretending I'm working there so that I can get a good look at him while they ask this guy some questions. It could be him, and I'm pretty sure it is him, but it turns out that he has a cast-iron alibi: his baby daughter has just died shortly after being born and he was at his partner's side in the hospital at the time of the crime. I feel guilty about having misidentified him, but everyone agrees that he's a dead ringer for the suspect.
They can't find the other guy right now, so they tell me not to worry about it, and they'll get in touch if they need to.

About a year and a half later I receive a summons to appear in court in November 2006 as a witness, although why I'm not sure as I misidentified another guy as the one who got into my car. When the date eventually arrives, I go to court and the suspect is there as well, but he's put on lots of weight, changing his appearance completely. I wouldn't have recognised him if he hadn't stood when the case was called. There's an array of charges against him, to all of which he pleads guilty, and because one of them is a lot worse than the incident in which I was involved, the prosecution agrees to drop the other charges and to only prosecute the more serious one.
Here's a link to the news report of the final case when it came before the court:
http://www.ntlworld.ie/News/Irish/?chid=0117bf71d2abaee3beadeb3074e42016
and this is from the Irish Times website; the reference to the Stillorgan event occurs near the end of the report:

Detective confronted post office robber

A court heard how a Garda detective confronted a drug addict with a chair when he robbed a post office. The defendant was then held with the aid of two members of the public, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Jason Campbell (26) of Donomore Crescent, Tallaght, Co Dublin, will be sentenced by Judge Michael White in February for this offence and other armed robberies committed in October and November 2004.
Det Garda James Donegan, now retired, was subsequently awarded the Scott Medal for his bravery in trying to thwart the knife-wielding Campbell at Glenview Post Office in Tallaght.
Campbell had held a knife to a customer's neck and demanded money be placed in the Dunnes Stores bag he had brought with him. The cashier gave him €5,030 before he tried to get away.
Det Garda Donegan, who was off-duty heard the commotion while in a pharmacy, took a chair with him and rushed to the post office shouting "gardaí".
Campbell rushed at him holding the knife and managed to push the chair away. He stabbed Det Garda Donegan in the side and pushed past him on to the street outside but was chased by him and another off-duty garda who had been in the post office at the time of the robbery. With the aid of two passers-by they managed to catch Campbell and hold him on the ground while he struggled violently until Garda reinforcements arrived.

Campbell pleaded guilty to six armed robberies of banks, post offices and a credit union.

He grabbed pensioner Marion O'Hanlon by the neck and held a knife to her throat when he raided the Permanent TSB in Stillorgan in November 2004, but as he was demanding money from the cashier Ms O'Hanlon broke free, cutting her hand on the knife, severing several tendons.
She ran to the door just as Campbell was making his escape through it with over €8,000 and fell, breaking her wrist. Judge White heard that she has never regained full use of her hand.

Campbell used a replica Colt revolver when with two other men he escaped with €5,500 from the AIB bank in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in November 2004. All three had scarves covering their faces and the others were armed with a hammer and a screwdriver.
The court heard that Campbell had a significant drug problem but had taken steps while in custody to deal with the addiction, although he had broken the terms of bail granted to him in February to allow him to attend a residential drug treatment programme.