Prison officer hurled racist abuse at minicab driver on night outA prison officer is set to lose his job after being convicted of hurling racist abuse at an Asian minicab driver and damaging his car.
Moray Walker, 50, used highly derogatory and racist language towards Mohammed Tanveer, 40, after the driver refused to pick him up after a boozy night out at Edinburgh's Prison Officers Club.
The city's sheriff court heard how Mr Walker, who supervises inmates at HMP Saughton, leaned through the driver's window upon being knocked back.
He then asked Mr Tanveer "why don't you go home?" and struck out at his victim's motor, damaging the car door.
The story emerged following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday in which Mr Walker was found guilty of committing a racially aggravated breach of the peace on March 18.
Walker, of Edinburgh, had entered a not guilty plea and claimed that he would never use racist language towards a fellow human being.
The prison guard said that Mr Tanveer had insulted his wife. But Sheriff Neil McKinnon said that there was enough evidence available to prove that Walker had broken the law.
Another minicab driver, Brett McCarthy, told the court that he was in his car waiting for a fare nearby when he witnessed the shocking incident.
Deferring sentence for reports, Sheriff MacKinnon said: "I have decided that I can treat the Crown evidence as being credible and reliable."
During the trial, Mr Tanveer, a private hire driver, told the court that he was on duty in the early hours of March 18.
He said he was parked close to the Prison Officers Club waiting for his radio controller to tell him where to go to pick up fares.
He said that Mr Walker came to his car and asked him to take him home.
Mr Tanveer said that he couldn't because being a private hire driver meant that he wasn't allowed to collect fares from off the street.
Mr Tanveer said that Mr Walker started shouting racist abuse at him shortly afterwards.
He added: "He used swearing. He was saying words like 'b*****d'. He was also using racist language. He said 'you p**i b*****d'. He also said 'you black b*****d'.
"He also asked me why I came here and why I wasn't going back. He then leaned through the open window and tried to grab me. I was scared - that's why I phoned the police."
The court heard that the attack was witnessed by another cab driver, Brett McCarthy, who was sitting close by.
The 27-year-old said that he could see Murray acting in a menacing way towards Mr Tanveer.
Giving evidence, Mr Walker denied committing a breach of the peace and told the court that he believed that Mr Tanveer was conspiring against him.
He said that at the time of the incident, he was under a lot of stress and that he would never use racist language or act in an offensive fashion.
He added: "I never use racist language."
However, Sheriff MacKinnon said he preferred the evidence of Mr Tanveer and Mr McCarthy to the evidence given by the defence.
He found Mr Walker guilty of committing the racially aggravated breach of the peace and deferred sentence so the court could obtain reports about the prison officer’s character.
Speaking after conviction, defence advocate Mark Moir told Sheriff MacKinnon that the conviction would lead to his client losing his £28,000 a year job.
Mr Moir also said that the father of one had no previous criminal convictions and was suffering from stress at the time of the incident.
Mr Moir added: "His employment is in some jeopardy. I would urge your lord to impose a monetary penalty. He currently earns £28,000 per annum - he takes home around £1,700 per month after tax.
"There is some fairly catastrophic knock on effects which will have on the impact on the rest of his life."
Murray will be sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on November 8 2013.
source:
http://news.stv.tv/east-central/242972- ... iff-court/
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