Taxi Driver Online

Drunk threatened taxi driver and told him “you don’t belong in North Wingfield, it’s mine”

https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/ ... ne-3845192

A drunken Chesterfield racist told a taxi driver “you don’t belong in North Wingfield, it’s mine” during a row over a taxi fare, a court heard.

James Leighton, 39, uttered the bigoted comment when told he would have to take cash from a machine to pay as a card reader was unavailable.

Chesterfield Magistrates Court heard how on January 1 around 5pm Leighton was picked up at a Clay Cross pub and taken to North Wingfield.

Prosecutor Alexis Mercer said: “The taxi driver offered to drive him to a cash point as he did not have a card reader.

“The defendant then said ‘you don’t belong in this country’. The complainant was shocked by this.”

Leighton also told the driver “you don’t belong in North Wingfield. It’s mine, it's not yours, it’s everybody’s who lives here”, said Ms Mercer.

After being ushered out of the taxi to get cash at a shop Leighton emerged from the store without any money at which point the taxi driver called police, the court heard.

Ms Mercer told how as they waited for police Leighton told the driver - who was forced to push him away several times - “I’m going to smash your head in”.

After Leighton’s arrest he told police he had drunk four to five pints - which “can affect his behaviour”. He denied making racist comments, adding: “I would never say that.”

Georgia Collins, his solicitor, said: “On reflection he is remorseful - he knows his actions were inappropriate.”

Ms Collins said Leighton had suffered the loss of his sister and nephews in a 2013 house fire but had sought help with his drinking problem through Derbyshire Recovery Partnership.

Leighton, of Sheffield Road, Chesterfield, admitted using racially-aggravated words and making off without payment.

District Judge Andrew Davison told him: “This is a mean offence - he was a taxi driver who just happens to have a different culture or religion to you.

“Whether you regard yourself as a racist when sober is irrelevant - if you cannot control yourself don’t get taxis, it’s as simple as that.”

Leighton was jailed for 12 weeks suspended for 12 months, handed an alcohol monitoring requirement and 25 rehabilitation activity days.

He was ordered to pay £208 compensation, £85 court costs and a £95 victim surcharge.

As "racist" comments go this isn't exactly up there with the worst but the bloke was well out of order if he'd paid up I'm sure the driver would have let it go

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Yes, that's what I was thinking, and I'd guess he'd have let it go if the knacker had paid up

Of course, there's 'nativism' everywhere, and the trade certainly isn't averse to that kind of thing. Because I lived in Dundee for years, while working in NE Fife, I've been told to feck off back to where I came from once or twice

Drivers out at the station often go to the station toilet, which takes a few minutes. One thing that used to annoy me was when I wanted to go to the toilet, but drivers in front wouldn't move their cars up for maybe half an hour, but of course if I actually went to the toilet then at that point they'd move their cars up, so I'd look like the one holding things up, even if I was only away a couple of minutes, and for the toilet rather than sitting about in the cars gossiping

Anyway, I recall one time this happened, and when I was walking up to the car one of the drivers from a local office said: "Tell that Dundee c*** to move his car up."

He then realised it was me: "Oh, er, didn't recognise you there!"

Annoying thing was that I actually lived closer to the rank than a lot of the drivers working there, but because I lived in Dundee but they lived in Fife many of them thought they had more right to be working there than me.

Of course, 99.9% of the time it wouldn't be said to your face, so it was actually quite amusing when the mask slipped like that. As well as the driver actually living at least twice as far from the rank as me, turned out he was a benefit fraudster as well. One of those types who wore a Santa Claus outfit at Christmas, but would jump the rank queue given half a chance

(Sure I've told that wee tale on here before once or twice, so apologies for boring anyone who's read it before )

I find that it's usually the dodgiest ones who have the biggest mouths

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Wow.

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IDFIMH