THE MOTHER OF a 13-year-old girl who was robbed on the Luas last week has said her daughter has been left shaken by the mugging.
Michelle Kane’s daughter Mia had been with a group of seven friends getting dinner in Dundrum Town Centre. They were getting the Luas green line back to Bride’s Glen, which is near Cherrywood.
The tram was so full that Mia and her friends managed to get separated. A man and a woman spotted them and made their way towards the two girls. They then began verbally harassing the children. The woman then told the girls she had a flick-knife and, according to the mother, said “just wait until you get off the Luas. You’ll get what’s coming to you.”
Since the incident occurred, there have been calls for increased security on the Luas lines to prevent this kind of incident from happening again.
The teenager, who is from the Shankill area, stayed quiet but, according to her mother, began to panic.
When the tram finally reached the last stop, Mia wouldn’t leave the carriage as the older couple had threatened to stab her and her friend.
Mia took her phone out and tried ringing her mother, who worked less than 1km away from the stop. But when she took her phone out, the man wrestled the phone away from her.
The two girls were left “hysterical”, according to Michelle.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Michelle said: ”The woman had a knife and was being very abusive, saying ‘I’m going to stab you’.”
It is understood that this knife is not visible on the CCTV footage and that the blade may been concealed.
Safety
Fortunately, the phone was handed into a local shop shortly after the mugging. However, Michelle said the attack on the teenager was very worrying.
“It’s good that someone handed it in but all I care about is that my daughter is ok. People can’t be out there terrorising children like that.”
The mother said Mia has been very shook since the incident and that her usually-confident child was afraid to leave the family car in Shankill village.
“There was a girl in the village who looked a little like the woman on the Luas and Mia didn’t want to get out of the car. She had never been like that before.”
Vinny Duran-Kearns, Fianna Fáil local area representative for Killiney/ Shankill said that more must be done to make sure the Luas stop is a safe place for those who use the service.
Everybody should be able to feel safe on their way home. Luas stops are unmanned and the one in Cherrywood is particularly isolated. I would call in Transdev to increase their security on both the Luas and stations to prevent further incidents like this occurring.
Photographs of the alleged perpetrators have been shared on social media.
Gardaí in Shankill are investigating the incident. A spokeswoman said:
“Gardaí at Shankill are investigating a robbery from a juvenile on the Luas from Dundrum to Brides Glen. A male and female approached the female juvenile and stole her phone.
“They both left the Luas and fled the area. The female is described as being in her 20s, with long black hair and wearing a black skirt and black boots.
“The male is described as being in his 20s, with short brown hair and wearing grey and navy tracksuit bottoms and runners. No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.”
Transdev, the company which operates the Luas, told TheJournal.ie that they have handed over CCTV footage of the incident to gardaí.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say