Former teacher beat up taxi driver in drunken frenzy John Randall, 36, repeatedly punched taxi driver fracturing his eye socket 
John Randall, ex-teacher who attacked taxi driver John Randall, ex-teacher who attacked taxi driver
An emergency 999 operator listened to a taxi driver’s screams as he was beaten up by a drunken passenger.
James Furlong picked up ex-teacher John Randall in Bromborough Village, Wirral , at 7.15pm on April 4 and Randall, clutching a Chinese takeaway, asked him to take him to Little Sutton.
Kim Egerton, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Randall was drunk and his speech was slurred so Mr Furlong asked him for £10 in advance.
As they were driving along the A41 Randall began waving his arms around and making “whooping noises”.
She said his “attitude changed” and he started asking what the driver’s name was but when Mr Furlong, 44, wouldn’t say he told him: “I will find out who you are.”
She said he stopped the taxi, gave him his £10 back and told him to get out but he wouldn’t so he called 999.
Randall then started shouting abuse at him, saying he was going to “f*** him”.
Ms Egerton, said: “Mr Furlong pointed out the operator would be able to hear him but that didn’t stop him.”
Randall, 36, then punched him repeatedly in the face and ran off, leaving his takeaway behind and Mr Furlong with a fractured eye socket.
He was arrested a month later after being identified by CCTV from the takeaway but said it the driver who was the aggressor and had given him a split lip.
Randall, of Chester Road, Ellesmere Port, later pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.
Keith Sutton, defending, said: “He had difficulty coming to terms with the fact that he had acted so out of character. Once he heard the evidence it was very clear what he had done and he abandoned his poor recollection.”
He said he was disgusted with his behaviour and expressed his sincere apologies.
Randall had previously worked as a teacher and was considering going back into the job but Mr Sutton accepted his conviction made that “problematic”.
Judge Brian Lewis, jailed Randall for eight months, saying: “The 999 operator heard you threatening the complainant in abusive and obscene language. He heard Mr Furlong’s screams when he was being hit.
“Mr Furlong was subjected to a quite disgraceful, unprovoked and sustained attack. The sentence must therefore be imprisonment.”
source:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liv ... er-6239549
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