Taxi row: Passenger damages cab after flying into rage Jamie Woods, 28, was hauled into the dock after he lashed out during a spat with a driver.
A yob flew into a drunken rage and smashed the plastic screen inside a taxi so hard that it broke.
At Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday, Jamie Woods, 28, admitted punching the screen while arguing with the driver over cash.
Motor mechanic Woods and his then partner had been drinking at the Grosvenor Casino, in Glasgow, on April 23 last year before hailing a taxi back to his Bridge of Weir home.
However, the evening turned sour when Woods, of Kirkinner Place in the village, became embroiled in a heated argument with the driver, Gerald Kilty, 66, during the journey.
Depute fiscal Kerri Marshall explained to the court that Woods asked for the taxi to stop in Morven Avenue, in Linwood, so he could collect cash to pay his fare.
She said: “The complainer asked him, ‘is that you got your money now,’ to which Mr Woods said, ‘how, you wanting it now?’
“At that point, Mr Woods handed the driver two £20 notes, which was the agreed price, however he became highly agitated and verbally abusive towards the complainer.
“He then punched the plastic screen separating the driver cab from the passenger compartment, causing it to break.”
The court was told that this occurred on a secluded section Bridge of Weir Road while the car was in motion.
The prosecutor continued: “The accused then threw another £20 note to the driver, and got out with his partner and walked away.”
Mr Kilty reported the incident to the police the following day.
His defence agent, Michael McKeown, told the court that the argument in the cab was a two-sided affair and that his client felt slighted by the driver.
He told the court: “After he collected money from a friend that owed him money in Linwood, he returned to the car, the driver said to him, ‘I thought you were going to bump me, I know your type’.
“As they headed towards Bridge of Weir, things degenerated between them and Mr Woods asked the driver twice to stop, but he refused.
“He punched the screen and he accepts that and is sorry. He knows that what he did was unacceptable, that is why he handed over another £20 as he left.”
Sheriff Colin Pettigrew said he was concerned that other drivers could have been put at risk during the episode.
He explained: “That this happened when the vehicle was moving is concerning. This could have distracted the driver — that could have put the driver and other road users at risk.”
Woods will return to court on October 19 to learn his fate after the sheriff ordered backgrounds reports.
Mr McKeown struck a deal with the prosecutor which saw another charge of assault against Woods dropped.
source:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local ... ab-8839715
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