Taxi Driver Online

Businessman punches cabbie in taxi route dispute after bragging about his 'wealth'

A polo-playing businessman returning home from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix gave a mini-cab driver a black eye over a dispute about the route he was taking. Simon Rubel Lo Gatto, 44, the owner of a leading Italian luxury office furniture company based in St James, bragged to the taxi driver Nakalingam Koneswaran about his wealth before assaulting him.

The row happened after Mr Koneswaran collected Lo Gatto from Heathrow Airport, where the court heard he had been drinking. He had asked to be taken to his £1.5 million apartment in Wimbledon Village on November 30 last year but during the journey he changed his mind and demanded to be taken to Brinkley's Garden, a restaurant in Little Chelsea to meet his girlfriend.

During the journey he shouted at the driver claiming he was on the wrong lane for the A4. "He was sitting behind me and slapped my left arm," Sri Lankan cabbie Mr Koneswaran told Ealing Magistrates Court. "He said: 'I'm a rich man, do you know my family? We're a valuable family.'

"As I turned around he punched my face, the left eye and I told him to get out, but he said: 'If you stop I'll punch you again.' "I was scared that he would punch me again and when I dropped him off I said: 'Thank-you' and he said: 'F*** off.' "This was very painful for me and swollen the next day, a black eye. This incident traumatised me and I am scared if someone shouts at me from behind."

Prosecutor Bhavin Patel said: "There was a disagreement as they neared Chiswick, with the defendant shouting they were in the wrong lane for the A4. "Mr Koneswaran told the defendant he was in the correct lane and Mr Lo Gatto replied: 'You ------- talking to me?'. He then punched him in the left eye and said: 'I'm a mafia man. I can do whatever I want'."

The mini-cab driver told the magistrates: "He was treating me like a servant. I've never had anyone treating me like that. "He walked like a proud man and he was ignoring me and demanding me to do things." Lo Gatto was arrested at home on December 4 after a stand-off with police which resulted in him spending a night in custody.

Lo Gatto denied he had been drinking on the flight or being drunk prior to the incident and told the court: "He starts being a little rude and we began to argue loudly. "I knew he was in the wrong lane and the word '----' was used by both sides." He denied punching the driver or having a dismissive attitude: "If I am confident in myself and someone sees that as arrogance that's their interpretation."

Lo Gatto's lawyer Mark Haslam said: "There was a dispute about the lane the taxi should be in. "The defendant said the taxi driver was in the wrong lane and there followed a heated argument, a blazing row on this minor point that escalated. "He's a hard-working, self-employed man. He does not accept the findings of the court and has lodged a notice of appeal."

Magistrates convicted Lo Gatto, a member of Ham polo club, of assault on Wednesday and sentenced him to a 12 month community order, with 80 hours community service work. Lo Gatto, the managing director of Interoffice, was ordered to pay the cabbie £100 compensation, a £60 victim surcharge and £620 costs.

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IDFIMH

perhaps we should present this to the guinness book of records for the most mistakes in a printed article

£100 is pocket change to this bloke think he got away lightly

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I agree, but the criminal conviction will have an effect should he wish to travel to many areas of the world.

USA is a big no for him for a while.

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IDFIMH