Thiago Osorio Cortes
Dublin, d.31.August.2020, killed by
hit and run driver while working
Boy (16) charged over hit and run that killed Deliveroo cyclist
Student Thiago Osorio died when he was struck by a car while working
and cycling in Dublin
Irish Times, November 7, 2020
A 16-year-old boy has been remanded in custody after he was charged
over a fatal hit-and-run in which Deliveroo cyclist Thiago Osorio
Cortes was killed in Dublin city centre.
Mr Cortes (28) from Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, was cycling on North
Wall Quay when he was struck by a car at about 10.30pm on August
31st last.
Mr Cortes, who was a student, was delivering food for Deliveroo at
the time of the collision.
He was taken by ambulance to the Mater hospital, where he was later
pronounced dead. Gardaí had appealed for witnesses and had also
recovered a light grey Ford Focus during their investigation.
A teenage boy was arrested on Friday and detained in Store Street
Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. He
appeared at an evening sitting of Dublin District Court on Saturday,
charged with dangerous driving causing death of Mr Cortes and
failing to report the occurrence of an injury to gardaí.
He was remanded in custody to the Oberstown detention centre and
will appear again on Tuesday at the Children’s Court. He cannot be
named because he is a minor. The court heard the boy had no previous
convictions, was not working, was not in receipt of social welfare
and was supported by his mother. Section 93 of the Children Act
states that no report shall be published or included in a broadcast
which reveals the name, address or school of any child concerned in
the proceedings or includes any particulars likely to lead to the
identification of any child concerned in the proceedings.
Mr Cortes had lived in Dublin with his fiancée Theresa Dantas for
the past two years and was studying English. Mr Cortes, who was from
Brazil, was delivering food by bicycle for Deliveroo at the time he
was hit by the car and had started the job just weeks before he was
killed.
Deliveroo Rider Thiago Osorio Cortes Killed In Hit and Run In Dublin
hiago Osorio Cortes, a cyclist working for on-demand food delivery
service Deliveroo in Dublin has died following a hit-and-run
accident in the city on Monday night. The 28-year-old English
language student from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil had made his last
food delivery of the night when a car swung in front of him on North
Wall Quay at about 10:30 pm, knocking him off his bicycle.
An ambulance took Thiago (pictured) to the Mater Hospital with
critical injuries. He was later pronounced dead.
Gardaí have said that the driver fled the scene and the vehicle
involved in the collision was recovered by officers at Castleforbes
Square, shortly after the incident.
"No arrests have been made to-date and enquiries are ongoing,"
Gardaí have said.
Speaking to Hot Press friends and family of Thiago Osorio Cortes,
have described him as a hard-working man with a huge determination
to fulfil his dreams in his adopted country.
Vinicius, a close friend of Thiago, said that, like most
non-European immigrants in the country, Cortes worked and studied
tirelessly.
“Talking about Thiago,” he said, “is talking about an incredible
person who always made everyone happy, a young man full of dreams
and plans who was loved by everyone who knew him.”
Embracing the related principles of hard work and perseverance,
Thiago had the words, ‘Persistence, Patience and Consistency,’
tattooed on his arm.
A resident of Portobello, on the south side of the city, Cortes got
engaged just two months ago, to his long-time girlfriend Tereza. The
duo came to Ireland in 2018. Cortes was studying at Erin School of
English.
A friend of Tereza, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Hot
Press that on the night of the incident Cortes was expected at home
any minute.
“Tereza was waiting for him to come and have his own dinner,” she
said.
"Thiago loved to live here in Ireland. He didn't want to go back to
Brazil. He was studying English and was planning everything to start
college here after,” she added.
Non-European English language students planning to enter the Irish
third-level education system must cobble together tuition fees that
are much higher than what is paid by Irish and European students.
The cost of a BA degree for non-European students runs as high as
€9,000 and obtaining a Masters qualification in an Irish university
costs up to €15,000.
This afternoon, a group of mask-wearing Deliveroo cyclists held a
vigil for their fallen colleague in Dublin city centre, holding
signs that read, “Who Killed Thiago Cortes?” Tereza has thanked
members of An Garda Síochána for the assistance they have given to
her since Monday night.
The emergence of food delivery start-ups like Deliveroo and Uber
Eats in Ireland, and the UK, has drawn a large number of cyclists –
many of them students and migrants – into what is in far too many
ways a poorly regulated and highly precarious sector. Non-Europeans
in Ireland often sign up for dangerous and precarious jobs to make
ends meet. Food delivery has become a multibillion-Euro sector.
Founded in 2012, Deliveroo, is part of a so-called ‘unicorn club’ of
privately held companies whose valuation exceeds one billion,
according to The New York Times.
Last year, the e-commerce giant Amazon, also made a $575 million
investment in Deliveroo, becoming one of the London-based firm’s
biggest supporters.
Besides Ireland and the UK, the company is active in 12 other
markets including Australia, France, Hong Kong and Kuwait. Deliveroo
is now servicing about 80,000 establishments, according to the
Times.
They are in close competition with Just Eat and Uber Eats, and the
rivalries often mean squeezing pay – in effect by taking advantage
of vulnerable job seekers.
Last May, Deliveroo cyclists in Cork city, told Hot Press that the
company had reduced the minimum wage of €4.30 per order to €2.90 in
recent months.
They alleged at the time also that Deliveroo had failed to provide
PPEs to all of its Irish-based couriers. This was denied by
Deliveroo.
The algorithm, they said, also works against cyclists, favouring car
drivers and motorcyclists when it comes to commissioning ‘gigs'.
Food delivery is a demanding line of work, with pressure to get the
delivery done quickly and cyclists have been known to suffer serious
injuries or lose their lives on the job.
It is a context in which insurance becomes a major issue.
In a statement to Hot Press, a spokesperson for Deliveroo has
offered their ‘deepest condolences’ to the family of Thiago Cortes.
“This is a tragedy and a terrible loss. Our deepest condolences,
thoughts, and prayers are with the family and friends of the rider.
We will do everything we can to ensure that the family of the rider
is supported during this extremely difficult time,” they said.
The spokesperson told Hot Press that all of their cyclists in
Ireland were insured, including the late Thiago Cortes, who has been
delivering food for a little over a month.
“Every single rider is covered by accident and injury insurance for
free, completely at the cost of Deliveroo, from the moment they
start riding,” they said. “Deliveroo was the first platform to
introduce this for all riders in the world. This covers costs for
injury and lost income, covering all riders regardless of vehicle
type.”
Leonardo Da Silva, a Deliveroo cyclist in Cork city, however, told
Hot Press that the information was not communicated to him at any
stage during his employment.
“They never told us about it,” he said.
The spokesperson for Deliveroo said that even if unaware of the
information, all riders are ‘automatically’ covered by a free
accident and injury policy.
"This is automatic and riders are informed of this [as per the
website], so the rider must have missed this, but it is not a case
of our ‘offering’ insurance to any rider as it is automatic,” the
spokesperson said.
The free accident and injury insurance policy, however, was only
introduced in 2018. This means that from 2015 – the year Deliveroo
launched in Dublin – to May 2018, the London-based start-up was not
covering its Irish-based couriers for potential accidents and
injury.
The company has also said that it cannot provide free commercial
insurance to its scooter and car drivers.
“All road users of motorised vehicles are required by law to have
commercial insurance,” they explained. “For those performing
delivery services, they need a particular food delivery services
insurance. Deliveroo does not provide this to scooter and car users
for free because this is a requirement by law.”
Classified as ‘self-employed’ or ‘freelancers’, food delivery
couriers are not full-time employees. That means they have few
protections like guaranteed wages, sick pay and health care, all
beneficial elements that are even more critical during the ongoing
coronavirus crisis.
Speaking to Hot Press, economist and Cork-based Green Party
Councillor Lorna Bogue said that the death of Thiago Cortes has once
again exposed the precariousness of life for non-European,
gig-economy workers.
"A gig economy job is one in which the employee is technically
defined as being an 'independent contractor',” she explaned. “The
promise that is sold to the workers is that this will allow [them]
to choose their own working hours. However, usually how it works is
that the employee takes on all of the risks of work, with very few
protections from the employer."
Lorna Bogue urged the State to regulate the sector to protect
vulnerable workers, in honour of Thiago's untimely death.
“It has been clear for quite some time now,” she said, “that the gig
economy requires regulation from the State, to bring job stability,
better health and safety practices, and to ensure that the employer
– who is profiting from this form of exploitation of less well-off
and migrant workers in particular – bears responsibility for the
welfare of these employees.”
Fiancée of tragic Deliveroo cyclist Thiago
Cortes says he came to Ireland 'for a better life'
Theresa Dontas told of how Thiago convinced her to move to Ireland
from Brazil with him to seek out a life with more opportunities
Irish Mirror, September 4, 2020
The fiancée of a tragic delivery cyclist who was killed in a hit and
run in Dublin city has told how he came to Ireland for a "better
life."
Thiago Cortes, 28, originally from Brazil, died from his injuries
after he was knocked down while cycling at North Wall Quay on Monday
at around 10.30pm.
He was rushed to The Mater Hospital in a serious condition where he
later died.
Speaking today, his heartbroken fiancée Theresa Dontas told how he
convinced her to move to Ireland with him to seek out a life with
more opportunities.
She told Today with Claire Byrne: "We've been together for over six
years. He was the one who wanted to come to Ireland first. He
convinced me to come here and I did and I don't regret it at all.
"He wasn't really happy in Brazil and he thought he might get better
opportunities.
"He wanted to come here to get a better life. And we were getting
that, we had a great life here."
Thiago had come to Ireland to study for a master's degree and had
been working for Deliveroo.
A distraught Theresa also told of how she stayed with Thiago in the
Intensive Care Unit where he was being treated until his final
moments.
She said: "I got to see him when he was in the Emergency Room and
after when he was in the ICU.
"I spent the whole Tuesday there and the night as well until his
last moment."
She also recalled how she had heard that a Deliveroo rider had been
in an accident and began to suspect it may have been Thiago.
"That moment I felt it might be him because he hadn't texted me for
over an hour that time. And we tried to call him several times with
no answer."
Upon finding out Thiago had been struck by a car, Theresa rushed to
the Mater Hospital where the gravity of the situation hit her.
She said: "When we were on the way there they told me he was alive
but from the tone I knew it was something really serious."
She was then told by the doctor treating Thiago that his injuries
would be very difficult to survive.
There has been an outpouring of grief across the country in the wake
of Thiago's tragic death.
Colleagues and cyclists gathered for a vigil on O’Connell Street on
Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking on the demonstration, Theresa said: "It was amazing to see
how many people were there. A lot of people didn't know him and they
were all touched. It could have happened to any of them or any of
us. Unfortunately it was him.
"But I was really really happy to see the amount of love and support
yesterday and since the accident we have been receiving the same
support from the Brazilian community, from Irish people and it's
just amazing to see how much love is around."
Gardai have launched a man hunt after the car that struck Thiago
failed to stop at the scene.
And Theresa pleaded with anyone who might have information to come
forward.
She said: "Please come forward. If you know something just tell the
guards tell anyone.
"We need to know. Something has to be done. Unfortunately it
happened, but it could happen again and I don't want that to happen
to anyone in the future.
"These people have to answer for what they did."
