Nurse punched Muslim taxi driver 12 times during row over women's rightsThe woman was on her way home from a night out
A nurse repeatedly punched a Muslim taxi driver after drunkenly arguing with him about women's rights in Islamic culture.
Elaine Roots began berating the cabbie from the back seat after he picked her up following a night out in Nottingham.
After having a go at him about the treatment of women in Islam, she moved on to verbally attacking the Islamic faith, a hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.
Roots, who had spent the night drinking wine, reached forward and grabbed the driver by the collar - pulling him towards her and ripping the buttons off his shirt. She then punched him 12 times around the head, neck and upper body.
At the time of the assault Roots, a mental health nurse, was employed by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, although she has now retired.
Roots was arrested following the incident in Porchester and taken to the Bridewell Custody Suite in Carrington Street. She claimed to only have a vague memory of the initial argument on June 10 last year, and no memory at all of her later behaviour, due to her drunkenness.
She pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated common assault at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on June 25 last year. Her address at the time was given as Bennett Road in Mapperley. She was given a community order placing her under curfew for 10 weeks; and ordered to pay compensation of £60, costs of £85, and a criminal courts charge of £180.
Last week, on September 26, an NMC panel found that her fitness to practice as a nurse was currently impaired and she was banned for six months. The decision means that Roots, 57, could be back to work in six months' time.
NMC panel chair Clive Powell said: "The panel considered that you accepted the charge served upon you from the outset of the criminal investigation and wanted to apologise to the victim as soon as possible.
"However, the panel considered that since the incident, you have not directly addressed the impact your conduct had on the victim or on the wider impact on people who are subject to racial abuse. The incident was unprovoked, racially charged and violent and you continued to be racially offensive in the police station after the incident."
But Mr Powell said Roots had shown remorse for her actions and that it had been a one-off incident in an otherwise unblemished career. He said there were mitigating circumstances to why she was so drunk that night. The panel were also shown positive testimonials put forward in support of Roots.
Today Umar Mahmood, chairman of the Nottingham Licensed Taxi Owners and Drivers Association, said: "We provide a very valuable service to the public, and in return we deserve respect for that service.
"No customer has the right to ask a question which you don't feel like answering. You would rather not have the conversation which leads to such incidents.
"It's happened to me once or twice. People ask you irrelevant questions, like what you think of ISIL. I just ask them if we can not have the conversation.
"Nobody has the right to attack the religion you belong to. All faiths should be respected."
A spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: "This matter went through the usual disciplinary process at the time. We can confirm this lady has now retired and is no longer working for the Trust."
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