A GERMAN woman who suffered a broken jaw in a sectarian attack on a local taxi in South Belfast on Wednesday night was taking part in an exchange programme at St Mary’s University College. 

The 25-year-old, who was extremely traumatised and will have to undergo reconstructive surgery as a result of her injuries, returned to Germany for treatment on Friday. 

She was struck in the face when loyalists hurled a rock through the front passenger window of the taxi.

The student and two friends had got a taxi from the Go Broadway depot on the Falls Road and were travelling to the Lisburn Road for a night out when the cab was attacked in Glenmachan Street in the loyalist Village area at around 11pm.

On Thursday we revealed there has been a spate of such attacks in the area over recent weeks. At least 20 West Belfast drivers have now been attacked, along with a number of southern-registered cars, and local garages have reported a surge in damaged taxis over the past month. 

Professor Peter Finn, Principal of St Mary’s College, condemned the “random and mindless” attack and described those responsible as “thugs”.

 “Students and staff at St Mary’s are disturbed by the attack, which is the first incident of its kind we are aware of relating to international students since the college became involved in the Erasmus programme in 1994,” he said.

“Since then over 800 international students have attended the college and enjoyed their study period in Belfast.

“In the case of this particular student, however, the stone attack and the injuries she has sustained are a horrible and totally unacceptable experience,” added Professor Finn. 

Desie Connolly, manager of Go Broadway Taxis, said Wednesday’s attack was the latest in a long line of incidents, and added that he believes the PSNI only began taking them seriously as a result of media interest in the case.

 “I was on the phone to them all of last weekend about people throwing bricks at our drivers and they didn’t even get back to me. They have been informed about this before, and they just weren’t interested until people started going to the papers.

“I phoned them after our taxi was attacked on Wednesday too, and they didn’t come out to see the girl or the driver. He sat with her in the hospital until 3am, and he had to go to the station himself the next morning to make a statement – they didn’t even bother to come out and get one.”

Desie added that the firm takes cross-community contracts and said drivers from depots in loyalist areas regularly use the Falls Road without being attacked. 

“We would take a lot of the students over to the Lisburn Road for nights out and they have even been asking the drivers not to put our signs on the roof. We just spent over five thousand pounds on new signs and the drivers don’t want to use them either, and you can’t blame them.

 “Three of our drivers have left already because of these attacks and I am going to end up carrying one of them out of here in a coffin unless something is done about it. People in the Village must know who is responsible, and I would call on the PSNI and community representatives in the area to stop these attacks before someone is killed.

 “How can the PSNI ask our community to support them when it takes something like this to happen before they’ll do anything to help us?” asked Desie.

A spokesperson for the PSNI said every member of the public is entitled to go about their work without fear of attack or harm.

“Anyone who attacks a taxi driver is effectively attacking their own community by attacking someone who is simply trying to earn a living.

“We are committed to tackling this type of crime and will take a robust approach to bring those responsible for such attacks before the courts, but we can do so far more effectively with the support of taxi drivers and the local community.

 “We would urge anyone who has been the victim of such an attack or has information relating to such attacks to contact us on 0845 600 8000,” added the spokesperson.