Man made 'idiotic decision' to pick up woman who believed he was a taxi driver, court hears

Eimear Dodd

A man made an “idiotic decision” to pick up a visually impaired woman in his car who believed he was a taxi driver, a court has been told.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the woman had been socialising with a friend. They went to a taxi rank in the early hours of May 8th, 2022, where they tried for some time to hail a taxi to bring the woman home.

Nicolae Zgherea (30) stopped his car at the taxi rank and spoke to the woman’s friend who believed his response confirmed he was a legitimate taxi driver.

The woman got into the car and after realising there was no taxi licence or meter displayed, she asked Zgherea if he was a taxi driver.

When he confirmed he wasn’t, she asked him to pull over but he continued driving. She called 999 and put her phone on loudspeaker, with the emergency operator also asking Zgherea to pull over, which he did.

The court was told the call lasted just under two and a half minutes.

Zgherea of Fox Park, Finnstown Abbey, Lucan, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment.

David Perry, prosecuting, told the court the plea was accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions on the basis that Zgherea recklessly took actions which amounted to the false imprisonment of the woman.

Defence counsel Karl Moran said that his client made an “idiotic decision” to stop his car with the intention of picking up the woman and her friend for financial gain and had no right to do this.

Moran said his client apologises unreservedly for his actions and accepts he had no lawful right to do what he did.

Counsel noted this would have been a “terrifying experience” for the woman, who expressed its impact “very eloquently” in her statement.

The court was told the woman is visually impaired and describes herself as almost completely blind when it is dark.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by her brother, the woman outlined that what happened continues to have a significant effect on her.

The woman said she must trust that strangers will not take advantage of her as she can’t always rely on the vision she has left to read a person’s body language and their intentions.

She said what happened that night has affected her trust in others, her independence and her confidence.

She described enjoying a night out with a friend, the relief of getting a taxi, then her disbelief and panic when Zgherea told her he wasn’t a legitimate taxi driver.

She said her first thought was “I guess this is just my turn. This is what happens to people like me”.

She said she considered opening the door and jumping out of the moving car.

She said what happened felt much longer “like it would never end”.

The woman said she experiences flashbacks and questions daily why this happened. “Was I targeted because of my gender, disability or both?”

She said while she never felt completely unsafe before this happened, she did have an underlying fear of being more vulnerable as a woman and as a visually impaired person.

She said the lifelong consequences for her feel inherently unfair, but she is slowly rebuilding her confidence, trust in others and independence.

Judge Orla Crowe said this was a “very serious matter” and noted the dignity of the woman’s statement.

Remanding Zgherea on continuing bail, she adjourned the case until June, and directed the Probation Service to carry out a risk assessment.