Passenger challenged taxi driver to fight then bit his ear off in row over whether he should have indicatedThe defendant was drunk when he lost his temper during cab ride from Torquay to Paignton
A drunken passenger challenged a taxi driver to a fight then bit part of his ear off in a row over whether he should have indicated.
Vimal Jadeja, 27, locked his teeth around the ear of Russell Page and ranted 'I'll f**k you up'.
The defendant had become annoyed at the cab driver's style of motoring after he was picked up from a night out in Torquay.
He lost control after Mr Page said he did not have to indicate to round a bend on the way to Paignton.
Jadeja, who has a history of violence, was jailed for 20 months for causing actual bodily harm when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court.
The judge said he may have been showing off to impress a woman he was with but there was no excuse for the thuggish behaviour.
The incident happened shortly before midnight on June 2.
Prosecutor Mr Nigel Wraith said: "At some stage during the journey Jadeja became critical Mr Page's driving and suggested he should have indicated. Mr Page explained he wasn't required to indicate in that passage of road.
"Jadeja responded that he should have done and there was an argument. Jadeja became verbally abusive to Mr Page and when they stopped at traffic lights Mr Page said 'Don't start'.
Drunken Jadeja then got out of the taxi and offered to fight the taxi driver. The pair went around the back of the vehicle where Jadeja continued his rant before attacking and punching Mr Page to the ground.
Mr Wraith said there was some dispute about when the bite actually happened. Mr Page said it was while the pair were on their feet. A passing motorist said the taxi driver was on top of Jadeja trying to pin him down when he lifted his head up and bit his ear.
Part of the ear was severed and lost in the attack.
Jadeja carried on being aggressive when police came to arrest him.
The defendant, from Colchester in Essex, has been to prison before for robbery in 2006 and had recently served another sentence when the office in Torbay Road happened.
Mr Joss Ticehurst, in mitigation, said drink was the problem but the defendant had cut down significantly since the incident.
"He is genuinely remorseful," said Mr Ticehurst. "He gives no justification in any way for the incident."
Judge David Evans said: "It seems you were intoxicated when you got into the taxi with a female and whether it was because you were intoxicated or showing off you became argumentative and abusive to a taxi driver who was simply trying to do his job.
"You effectively told him you would fight him. A taxi driver is always vulnerable in a car with an aggressive passenger so he got out and stood by his car at the traffic lights probably expecting you wouldn't do in public what you did."
Jadeja was also given an extra seven days for not turning up on the date he was due to be sentenced in August. He said he had no money to make the trip.
source:
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-ne ... ht-2118643
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