Taxi to Pembroke cost angry teen £965http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... -teen-965/A taxi from Haverfordwest to Pembroke cost a furious teenager nearly £1,000 after she unleashed a ‘torrent of abuse and anger’ on the driver and kicked his door.
Lacey Sharp, of Greenhaven, Monkton, was found guilty of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of or provoke unlawful violence, after standing trial at Haverfordwest magistrates court on Wednesday, July 4.
Sharp, 18, had previously admitted causing criminal damage to a taxi, and the bench found her not guilty of two racially aggravated charges.
The court heard that Sharp and her girlfriend started arguing in the back of Hafiz Farooq’s taxi on their way home from Haverfordwest in the early hours of September 24.
Sharp became abusive and aggressive during the drive, and Mr Farooq decided to stop his car in Main Street, Pembroke, instead of taking the girls the rest of the journey, because of Sharp’s behaviour and fears for his safety.
He asked the girls to leave, told them he would refund £5 of their fare and approached a street pastor for assistance.
Mr Farooq then pushed Sharp away because she getting close to his face and being abusive towards him.
He said: “She fell on the road and straight away she got up and started running towards me. I moved to the side and she hit my car door.”
Mr Farooq added that he had been unable to work until the car had been repaired, and Sharp had caused £456 of damage.
Street pastor Jonathon Berharral told the court that Mr Farooq was ‘visibly distressed’ when he saw him, and Sharp continued to be abusive after getting out of the taxi.
He said: “The defendant was advancing in a very menacing posture with language to accompany it.”
Mr Berharral added: “She approached the vehicle and vented her fury on it. It was a very hard and purposefully directed kick.”
“The action was accompanied all the time by this torrent of abuse and anger.”
Sharp told police that she kicked the car in the heat of the moment due to embarrassment at falling on the floor, adding that she apologised.
She told the bench that she had simply wanted her £5 back, and did not think she had acted aggressively.
“I did not think about kicking the car, it was just out of anger.”
Mike Kelleher, defending, told the bench Sharp kicked the taxi because she was ‘embarrassed and furious’ at being pushed to the ground.
Sharp was ordered to pay £500 compensation to Mr Farooq, an £80 fine, £300 costs, and an £85 surcharge.
Magistrates also imposed a 12 month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work.
The chairman of the bench said: “You need to control your temper because this what can happen when you lose it.”
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