Taxi driver cleared of robbing passengers who refused to pay full fareA TAXI driver has been cleared of assaulting and robbing two passengers after he tried to stop them running off without paying the full fare.
Robert [edited by admin] picked up Ryan Adams and Mark McAloney from Glasgow city centre in his black hackney cab in June 2014.
The 47-year-old, who has no previous convictions, agreed a fare of £25 with the pair to take them from the rank he was at in Holland Street to Paisley.
The town's sheriff court heard that when [edited by admin] dropped them off in Arkleston Road they gave him £20 before exiting the vehicle.
[edited by admin], who has been a taxi driver for six years, said he would normally lock a customer in and call the police if they had not paid the full amount.
But he said the young men had left his cab before he noticed they had underpaid.
He said: "I got out the car and thought, 'What am I getting myself into here?'
"I picked up my handheld sweeping brush which was on the floor of the cab.
"I went out to the boys and said, 'You've underpaid by £5, we agreed £25'."
[edited by admin], of Milngavie, said that one of the boys handed him the £5 before telling him to "get a real job".
The boys reported the matter to the police and [edited by admin] was charged with assaulting the boys by brandishing the brush at them and robbing them of £10.
He told Sheriff Susan Sinclair that, on hindsight, it was "stupid to get out the car" and said he had the brush with him "as a deterrent" in case the boys planned to rob him and his car.
He denied using the brush as a weapon and pressing it into one boy's neck and said the pair had lied about the incident.
He added: "They've concocted this story. They've told lies.
"I got out the car thinking I just wanted my £5, that was all - I'd been underpaid."
After hearing that [edited by admin] would lose his taxi licence, his job and his house if convicted, Sheriff Sinclair found him not guilty.
source:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/crim ... .122476175
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