Mary Lynch, a taxi driver from Kells in Co Meath, picked up a male fare at around 4am to bring to his home, an innocuous journey on most night.

The man she picked up was Jerry McGrath. He told her about her all about his life and made small talk while directing Mary to his chosen location in Viginia, Co Cavan.

Mr McGrath, who had been drinking but wasn’t drunk, according to Mary, was having trouble remembering which house he was staying at.

When Mary suggested he’d figure it out if he walked around he calmly got out of the car and approached her driver side window to settle the fare, or so Mary thought.

Brutal attack

McGrath opened her door and the nicely dressed man, brutally attacked the taxi driver.

"He then went to open my door and he just went berserk. He started kicking me, he pulled lumps of hair out of my head, he bit me. I was black and blue...” she said.

Luckily, in the middle of the brutal attack the woman’s husband rang and she managed to answer it through her headpiece.  He was then able to raise the alarm

At this stage Mary thought she was going to be raped or murdered or both by her attacked and desperately clung onto her seatbelt so McGrath could not pull her from the car.

Shockingly, the man calmed down, got back in the car and Mary was able to drive into the nearest town and present herself to Gardai with the attacker in the passenger seat beside her.

Mary says she will now never pick up a fare on the street again.

Minor assault

Jerry McGrath was charged with minor assault and bailed for just €300 with no conditions.

While on bail McGrath then broke into a house in Tipperary and abducted a 5-year-old girl that was awoken by him breaking in.

He is overpowered by the girls' father and held until Gardai arrived. He was arrested and held in Limerick Prison for 21 days. During this period  the renewal of his bail for the Cavan assault comes up and it is renewed despite it being known that he is in Limerick Prison.

He was then granted bail despite the local Garda objection.

Jerry McGrath went onto murder a mother of two in a hotel in Limerick.

She was Silvia Roche Kelly and had met McGrath at a nightclub. CCTV in Limerick showed them walking to the hotel holding hands and then him leaving the hotel a few hours later.

Jerry McGrath got life in prison for the murder, a month later he got 10 years for the abduction.

Questions have been raised recently regarding Gardai handling of the McGrath’s case.

Mary tells her full story to Pat Kenny in his one hour highlight show here from 7:30