The pair pleaded guilty on 15 January at Hull Crown Court and were sentenced on 13 February. Gheorghe Bonculescu, 27, of Warmsworth Road in Doncaster, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for controlling prostitution for gain.Įlena Birovescu, 27, of the same address was handed to a two-year suspended sentence for money laundering. Tina Ahern of Dublin Bus guides Shauna Bowers through a driving lesson.Two people have been sentenced for offences after a woman was trafficked into the country and forced into sex work. I guess I’ll stick with my day job for now. I think it’s better to leave that to the professionals or those officially in training moving around stationary objects is one thing, but avoiding moving objects or vehicles seems like a lesson for another day. “Right, are you ready to go out on to the road?” Ahern asks me, to which I quickly reply: “No, thank you.” Thankfully, there were no further potential whiplash-inducing incidents Ahern was right, you do quickly get used to the brakes. You pick up the basics fairly quickly, and become much more confident by the end of the drive. Photograph: Bryan O’BrienĪfter 40 minutes of driving around the depot, Ahern instructs me to reverse around a corner, before parking the bus in an allotted spot. Shauna Bowers takes a drive around the Dublin Bus depot in Phibsborough. “You’re not just thrown in at the deep end, you’re given a lot of help along the way,” Ahern adds. Once they have passed, they are appointed a garage and a mentor who guides them on routes, beginning with “nursery” – easier – routes, before further routes are introduced. You feel like a bus driver then, you’re shown how to drive a bus and you’re driving it from then.”Īfter the course, drivers must do their test with the Road Safety Authority (RSA). And then on the Tuesday morning, they expect you to come in in uniform. “You’re given your uniform on the Monday. “The very first day, it’s just an introduction about what the six-week course is going to be about,” Ahern says. Once accepted on to the programme, drivers receive six weeks’ training – two weeks in the classroom and four weeks on the road. To become a bus driver, applicants must have a two-year full licence, and complete a driving assessment in the Dublin Bus training centre. Shauna Bowers tries to get used to the sensitive brakes. Shauna Bowers takes a bus driving lesson at the Dublin Bus Depot in Phibsborough, Dublin. “The brakes are a lot more sensitive, but you’ll get used to them.” “You’re okay, just go again,” Ahern reassures me, though I don’t believe her for a second. “Ooh sorry,” I reply looking guilty, as our poor cameraman falls forward towards the front of the bus with a thud, due to the unexpected change in motion. Given my driving lessons for my full licence involved a lot of raised or panicked voices from my poor parents in the passenger seat, her composure is appreciated as I press too hard on the more sensitive air brakes, bringing all of us to a sudden halt. “Slow down a bit now,” Ahern says in a calming tone. The Netflix show Drive to Survive might have sparked enormous interest in Formula 1 racing, but clearly viewers have never seen me in a red and white training bus doing circuits around the Broadstone depot in north Dublin. Often a little adjustment of the steering wheel goes a long way. Thankfully, no cones or kerbs were harmed during this exercise.įor a bus so large, however, manoeuvring it is surprisingly easy. Just because you have made it around the corner smoothly, doesn’t mean the back of the bus has. Side mirrors, I quickly discover, are invaluable in a vehicle of this length. I take the handbrake off, and ease my foot off the foot brake, as the automatic bus begins to propel itself forward. And after driving a bus, it’s easy to see why. That narrative is something Dublin Bus wants to change. And then maybe people don’t see that many women drivers so they don’t think it’s a job for them,” she said. You have your cab that has the screen, you have your emergency button to contact central control. People might be worried about safety but it’s a very safe job. “People maybe think it’s physically difficult to drive a bus, which it’s not.
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