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| Cabbie tells of racist abuse http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19164 |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Wed May 02, 2012 7:23 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
Misfits star charged with racially aggravated assault A taxi driver said he has been left "distraught" after a drunk Bafta-winning actress racially abused him and punched him when he picked her up in his cab. Misfits star Lauren Socha, 21, who won a Bafta for her role as Kelly Bailey in the Channel 4 TV series, assaulted Sakander Iqbal in Derby city centre after a nine-hour pub drinking session in the early hours of October 1. Married Mr Iqbal, 52, was in the city's Crown Court today where Socha pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault by beating, and said he had never experienced such abuse in his 22 years as a taxi driver. He said: "She called me a P***, a dirty b****** and said: 'You're Asian, f*** off back to where you came from.' "She said: 'Do you know who I am? I'll have your family lifted.'" He went on: "I've been doing this job for 20 years and I've never been put in that kind of situation before, so it was really upsetting." He played reporters the recording he made on his mobile phone of her eight-minute rant, littered with swear words and racist remarks. Socha, who appeared in court wearing no make-up, with her dark hair piled into a bun on top of her head, and in a black dress and cream fur jacket, originally denied the assault but changed her plea to guilty today. She sat in the dock and wiped away tears as details of her case were discussed. Judge Hilary Watson sentenced her to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and told her: "Your conduct on that night was despicable and Mr Iqbal rightly brought it to the attention of the police and then the courts." She added: "When heavily in drink and pumped up you chose to express yourself in that despicable way." Socha, of Meadowgrass Close in Littleover, Derby, won best supporting actress at the Baftas in 2011 for her Misfits role, the only prize for the comedy drama about superhero teen delinquents which had led the shortlist with four nominations. Speaking outside the court, Mr Iqbal, who has lived in the UK since 1970, has two children and works for Chad Cars, said the experience had left him incredibly upset and wary. "It made me feel absolutely terrible. "I'm extra careful now whenever I pick anybody up in my taxi. "It's left me really distraught." Socha was told by the judge she must carry out 80 hours of community service, pay £450 to Mr Iqbal in compensation and pay £750 court costs. As she left court she said she would not talk to reporters but said: "Of course I care," when asked if she was concerned by what she had done to Mr Iqbal. Her mother, Kathleen Lyons, spoke on her behalf, saying: "She's very, very sorry for all the distress she's caused to Mr Iqbal and his family. "She's grateful to the courts for giving her the opportunity to put this behind her and move on with her life and her career. "This isn't like Lauren, anyone that knows Lauren will tell you that this is so out of character. "It's an awful incident that happened and nobody should have been put through what Mr Iqbal was put through on that night. "She takes full responsibility for her actions and she's deeply sorry for this." Judge Watson said the racial aspect of the incident was so serious it crossed the custody threshold when considering sentence, even though she would suspend it. She told Socha, who put her head in her hands as the judge spoke to her: "Derby, like any multicultural city or town, cannot tolerate such victimisation of one part of its community. "Society simply cannot accept and tolerate such racist comments even if they are said while heavily intoxicated and bitterly regretted once sober." The court heard that Socha had been drinking wine and lager in the Abbey pub in Darley Abbey from 5pm until 2am before the incident happened. Mr Iqbal, of Rosehill Street in Normanton, said she was in the back of his taxi when she started abusing him and leaned over to punch him on the left side of his face. Describing the chain of events, he said he picked Socha and her friend up from Darley Abbey on the night of the assault. He dropped her friend off before making his way to Littleover to drop Socha off when she started saying he was taking her the wrong way. He said: "On the way back, because she'd had a bit to drink, because her senses weren't right, she goes to me: 'Where are you taking me, you should have gone right there' and I said: 'I'm taking you home, I know what I'm doing', and she just lost it. "She started calling me all sorts of names under the sun and I decided to try and find some police, "While I was doing that she punched me from the back. "I stopped my car, I called the police and the police came and arrested her." The court heard she accepted she racially abused Mr Iqbal but said she used a "finger prod" and not a punch. Mark van der Zwart, defending Socha, said: "Whether it was a punch or whether it was a prod, the assault happened and the very severely aggravating feature is accepted by her." He added that she felt remorse for what she had done and hoped that her acceptance and guilty plea would allow her to move on and not lose her career. "It's very difficult for somebody who's in the media spotlight," he said, "as this young woman has been. "It's plain that the intense scrutiny that rightly has been taken in this particular case has had a considerable effect on her over the last few weeks and months." Janine Smith, senior district crown prosecutor at CPS East Midlands said: "Lauren Socha has at last pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault in the face of overwhelming evidence against her. "Her behaviour that night last October was just shameful, and not what we should expect from someone in the public eye. "Racism and violence are completely unacceptable and the law protects people from this kind of abuse. I hope that this case will make people sit up and take notice that, no matter who you are, if you become racially abusive or violent, you are likely to find yourself facing prosecution." source: http://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/968379 ... se/?ref=nt |
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| Author: | Sussex [ Wed May 02, 2012 7:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
captain cab wrote: Socha, who appeared in court wearing no make-up, with her dark hair piled into a bun on top of her head, and in a black dress and cream fur jacket, originally denied the assault but changed her plea to guilty today. Amazing how this slag changed her plea when it became clear that she was recorded during her racist rant. And there are still f**k wits down in my manor who don't want audio on their CCTV. |
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| Author: | Doom [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:08 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
Newspapers pump ppl full of false patriotism and then wonder why this happens, no doubt the drink brought out resentment in her and she vented it as her control laxed, what I wanna know is is she vile or was something said prior to her outburst, like that'll be £9 when every other time it's £5 or route taken etc, she made one mistake she allowed herself to announce herself as someone famous, had she been another girl in the street I doubt this would've got this far, can't say about the driver cos I don't know him, he could be a top bloke or an ass, without knowing him I can't say either way, although in his defence she did sound like she'd watched too many eps of the Sopranos and thought she was Mrs Soprano. |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:09 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
Sussex wrote: captain cab wrote: Socha, who appeared in court wearing no make-up, with her dark hair piled into a bun on top of her head, and in a black dress and cream fur jacket, originally denied the assault but changed her plea to guilty today. Amazing how this slag changed her plea when it became clear that she was recorded during her racist rant. And there are still f**k wits down in my manor who don't want audio on their CCTV. 
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| Author: | Sussex [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
Doom wrote: Newspapers pump ppl full of false patriotism and then wonder why this happens, Not just newspapers, but posters on forums. |
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| Author: | Doom [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
I know, CC is a bad influence with that flagavatar 
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| Author: | captain cab [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
Doom wrote: I know, CC is a bad influence with that flagavatar Its gonna change....my jock roots are coming back through after todays trip to my ancient homeland....and the Belhaven 
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| Author: | Doom [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
captain cab wrote: Doom wrote: I know, CC is a bad influence with that flagavatar Its gonna change....my jock roots are coming back through after todays trip to my ancient homeland....and the Belhaven  OMG, is this going to be a name change to sCCull
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| Author: | captain cab [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
Doom wrote: captain cab wrote: Doom wrote: I know, CC is a bad influence with that flagavatar Its gonna change....my jock roots are coming back through after todays trip to my ancient homeland....and the Belhaven OMG, is this going to be a name change to sCCullpmsl....I think we all have a little bit of pmsl for skull......once you get through the cannot be scratched bit 
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| Author: | Doom [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
[/quote]pmsl....I think we all have a little bit of pmsl for skull......once you get through the cannot be scratched bit [/quote]He's alright, at least he's awake, unlike the majority of the mush that simply moans about milk going up and then pays it. |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Wed May 02, 2012 8:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
Doom wrote: He's alright, at least he's awake, unlike the majority of the mush that simply moans about milk going up and then pays it. Yeah, I think so, I disagree with him on many points, but he gives an alternative argument and makes me think.......and sadly read ffs. CC |
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| Author: | Doom [ Thu May 03, 2012 12:23 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
You mean when he goes into Citizen McSmith mode?
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| Author: | grandad [ Thu May 03, 2012 4:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cabbie tells of racist abuse |
captain cab wrote: Misfits star Lauren Socha, 21, who won a Bafta for her role as Kelly Bailey in the Channel 4 TV series, assaulted Sakander Iqbal in Derby city centre after a nine-hour pub drinking session in the early hours of October 1. She added: "When heavily in drink and pumped up you chose to express yourself in that despicable way." "Society simply cannot accept and tolerate such racist comments even if they are said while heavily intoxicated and bitterly regretted once sober." The court heard that Socha had been drinking wine and lager in the Abbey pub in Darley Abbey from 5pm until 2am before the incident happened. He said: "On the way back, because she'd had a bit to drink, because her senses weren't right, If she was in the same pub, drinking for 9 hours and was clearly "heavily in drink", Why has the landlord or the barstaff been brought before the court for serving someone who was drunk? |
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