A FATHER OF five who was part of a group of men who hijacked a taxi in Cork, threatened its 75-year-old driver with a knife and bundled him out of the vehicle has been jailed for four years.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that the taxi driver felt that he was “going to die” on the evening of 26 January 2024 when he was subjected to the “terrifying” ordeal.

One of the three men who got into his taxi in the city put a knife up to his face and neck and threatened him. He was subsequently thrown out of the vehicle at Monard in Rathpeacon, Co Cork.

Judge Helen Boyle said that Anthony Hornibrook (39) was one of three men who had caused considerable trauma to the taxi driver.

She told Hornibrook that she had viewed the “terrifying” dashcam footage of what had occurred.

“The front seat passenger, your co-accused, put a knife to his (the taxi driver’s) face and neck. The taxi driver tried to reason with him. There was a scuffle and the taxi driver got a cut to his hand and lip,” she said. 

“The 75-year-old taxi driver was left at the side of the road and had to be rescued by kind people.”

Judge Boyle referenced the heartfelt and eloquent victim impact statement of the taxi driver. She described him as being a “brave man” who had never experienced an incident of this kind in 35 years of driving taxis in Cork.

The taxi driver had told her that the assault on him was “life-changing” and that the “trauma” of the incident would never leave him.

He said that the men had stolen his livelihood and that he was “not the same person.”

The taxi driver said that he was extremely grateful to the people who came to his assistance when he was injured having been bundled out of his vehicle. He added that in addition to the trauma suffered, the men “stole his livelihood” and caused him a financial burden.

Hornibrook, of Killala Gardens, Knocknaheeny in Cork, previously pleaded guilty to a number of charges.

The hijacking incident was the most serious of the charges he faced. It stated that by threat of force or intimidation, he threatened the taxi driver that he would be stabbed with the car then being seized.

There was a charge of driving a stolen car at Davis Street, Mallow, Co Cork on 27 January 2024.

Hornibrook also pleaded guilty to four shoplifting offences, all of which occurred between 20 and 30 January 2024. He stole goods totalling €370 from Blarney Woollen Mills, €925 from JD Sports in Mahon Point, €378 from Dunnes in Merchant’s Quay and €390 from Tommy Hilfiger in Cork city.

The court heard that the thefts occurred as part of a “ten-day spree” which the accused undertook to pay for drugs.

Judge Boyle was told that Hornibrook was drug-free and doing well in prison. She jailed him for four-and-a-half years, suspending the final six months of the sentence.

She also disqualified Hornibrook from driving for a period of seven years.