Jodie Beverly Hackett said she was 'begging and crying' but the driver left her stranded miles from home
A young mum has claimed she was left stranded miles from home after being kicked off a Bus Eireann coach for talking too loudly.
Jodie Beverly Hackett, 23, said she was travelling from Galway to Dublin when a fed-up driver made her get off at Athlone, Co Westmeath.
The full-time mum added she was mortified by last Saturday’s incident.
Jodie, from Clondalkin in West Dublin, told the Irish Mirror yesterday: “I was on the bus alone from Loughrea at 6.45pm after visiting a cousin because I got a call saying my six-year-old son was getting really sick.
“I was sitting behind the driver talking on the phone and he told me to shush so I ended the call.
“A while later another friend rang and I was talking and the driver told me I would have to get off.
“He pulled in at the station in Athlone and got another conductor to come out
to us. I was begging and crying with him not to make me get off but the driver just drove away.”
to us. I was begging and crying with him not to make me get off but the driver just drove away.”
Jodie has vowed she will never use Bus Eireann again after her ordeal.
She said: “I suffer from depression and anxiety and this really took it out of me.
“It was a horrible experience and I don’t think I would feel safe using public transport again. The whole thing was embarrassing and I felt so violated.
“There were about seven other people on the bus and they stood up and looked but nobody said anything and nobody stuck up for me.”
Distressed Jodie added she felt abandoned in Athlone.
She said: “I don’t know Athlone at all, I don’t know where the bus station is or how to get to the Garda station. I had used a return ticket to get on the bus but I had no other money.
“I had to call my mother and father for help and they drove all the way from Dublin to get me.”
Jodie is adamant that while she may have been noisy, she didn’t deserve the way she was treated.
She added: “I was speaking kind of loudly but I tend to do that if I get excited sometimes. I had paid my fare though – €9 – and I wasn’t that loud.
“I begged and pleaded with the driver and he just laughed, I can’t understand how it happened.
“I am going to see a solicitor and try to get the CCTV footage because he had no right to do this.”
A Bus Eireann spokeswoman said: “Bus Eireann have made early investigations of this matter and are awaiting a full report.
“Passengers are requested not to distract the driver or cause undue disturbance to other customers.”
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