Jailed for Hawick taxi driver attackA man who attacked a taxi driver in Hawick, breaking two of his teeth, was jailed for two years at Selkirk Sheriff Court, pictured, on Monday.
Jamie Whigham, 26, described as a prisoner in Edinburgh, admitted assaulting the driver in Dickson Street on December 30, repeatedly punching him on the head to his injury.
He had specifically requested the driver, who suffered a bleeding nose and two broken teeth.
Tessa Bradley, prosecuting, said Whigham had been out socialising and became angered by an allegation involving the victim.
He rang for a taxi and asked for a specific driver, who attended. The accused leaned over the front passenger seat and punched the driver on the nose, causing it to bleed.
“He began raining blows on his face, before leaving the vehicle and walking off,” added Ms Bradley.
The taxi request was traced to Whigham’s girlfriend’s mobile phone, which he had used.
The victim required dental treatment.
Defending, Ross Dow said: “It is concerning that this was pre-meditated and he should not have taken the law into his own hands.”
Sheriff Jamie Gilmour jailed Whigham for nine months.
He also pleaded guilty to punching a man on the head, causing him to fall to the ground, and kicking him on the head to his severe injury at Torwoodlee Road, Galashiels, on March 12.
The victim sustained a fractured cheek, as well as cuts and swelling around his eye.
Ms Bradley told how the man had walked past a flat occupied by the accused’s brother when he heard a shout: “What the f**k are you looking at”.
Ms Bradley went on: “He ignored it and walked on, but the accused jumped out of a ground-floor window and followed him.”
Whigham punched the man on the back of the head, causing him to fall to the ground, hitting his face on the pavement. When he heard a bottle smash nearby, Whigham then kicked the man.
The blood-covered victim was taken to Borders General Hospital and detained overnight for observation.
“He had a fractured right cheek, and cuts and swelling around his eye, and was referred to St John’s Hospital in Livington,” added Ms Bradley.
The man didn’t report an assault, claiming to have fallen, but later identified the accused from police photographs.
Mr Dow said the offence was committed against a background of “bad blood”.
Mr Dow said the man had looked through the window and asked Whigham if his brother lived at the flat.
The lawyer added: “He challenged him, and he jumped out of the window and punched him, and he fell to the ground. When he heard a bottle smash, he turned round and kicked him.
“He accepts the error of his ways, but there was a context here.
“The man was looking for his brother, and he took exception to that, and he wouldn’t have gone so far if a bottle hadn’t been thrown.
“This happened against an antagonising background.”
Whigham was imprisoned for a further 15 months.
source:
http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/ne ... -1-3012972
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