Please note that the 107 previous offences aren't runners
Drunk couple hurl vile abuse at taxi driver as they try to make off without paying
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hu ... se-2829439
Gemma Gibbon and Callum Simpson were sentenced at Hull Crown Court
Gemma Gibbon leaving Hull Magistrates' Court after a previous hearing (Image: Hull Daily Mail)
A woman who was cleared of racially abusing a shop worker when ordering Karpackie lager has now admitted calling a taxi driver a "P***".
Gemma Gibbon, 35, and her partner in crime, Callum Simpson, 23, both racially abused the driver during the second taxi ride of the day in which they made off without paying.
It was their last act in a mini-crime wave in which they committed a combined ten offences during the afternoon of January 8.
Prosecutor Daniel Penman told Hull Crown Court it began at 2pm when a taxi picked the pair up in Lorraine Street, east Hull, where Gibbon lives.
Mr Penman said the driver took them to a "number of locations" and "it appeared they were seeking to buy drugs". The taxi eventually stopped in Victor Street, east Hull, where Gibbon got out, followed by Simpson.
The driver asked for his fare of about £10, and Simpson, who was standing on the pavement, "lunged" through the door and tried to grab the coin dispenser, which contained £8.90. The driver resisted and tried to grab it back, so Simpson turned his attention to a "small black case" and a further struggle began.
JAILED: Callum Simpson, who robbed one taxi driver and racially abused another during an afternoon of crime (Image: Humberside Police)
Simpson won the struggle after pulling the driver's arm away, and fell back on the pavement with the case before running off, although his glee may have been tempered when he found out what was in it.
Mr Penman said: "He may have believed it contained something valuable. It contained nail files worth £5."
Booze thefts
At 4.55pm, another cab picked the couple up from an address in Victor Street and took them to McColls convenience store in Summergangs Road, where Simpson promptly stole a box of Fosters lager, while Gibbon stole a bottle of wine.
A female sales assistant tried to stop Simpson leaving by holding the door, but he pushed her away, causing her to fall and hit her head on a wall and her body on a display cabinet.
The duo returned to the taxi, but the driver became suspicious and asked them to pay up front. They admitted they had no money, so the driver said he would take them to Clough Road police station, prompting Simpson to "kick off".
"F*****g open the window and doors now, you P***", he told him.
Gibbon joined in the abuse, saying: "You f****** weirdo. Open the door now, P***." Faced with their aggression, the driver dropped them off in Laburnum Avenue.
Mr Penman said: "He found the racial insults very unpleasant and they made him feel very uncomfortable."
In police interview, Simpson, of Anson Road, east Hull, accepted trying to steal the coin dispenser, but denied stealing the case. He also denied using violence or racist language.
Gibbon "could remember very little of the day because she had been drinking, but she denied racially abusing anyone", Mr Penman said.
Simpson later admitted robbery, theft, assault by beating, two offences of making off without payment, and a racially aggravated public order offence. He had 56 previous offences on his record.
More than 100 previous offences
Gibbon admitted theft, two offences of making off without payment, and a racially aggravated public order offence. She had committed 107 previous offences.
Dale Brook, for Simpson, said his life had been "blighted by drugs" but he hoped to return to his previous job at Willerby Caravans after serving the inevitable prison sentence. He was jailed for 18 months by Judge Paul Watson QC, Honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding.
Gibbon was sentenced to a 12-month community order, which includes up to 20 days of rehabilitation and attendance on a "shop theft programme".
Telling her he was prepared to give her "one last chance", the judge said of the programme: "Whether it will do any good or not I don't know, but the idea is to try to stop you stealing from shops."
Gemma Gibbon was previously cleared of racially abusing a manager at Sainsbury's (Image: Hull Daily Mail)
Two years ago, Gibbon was found not guilty after a trial at Hull Magistrates' Court of a racially aggravated public order offence, after a panel of three magistrates found she was misheard asking for her favourite Karpackie lager at a Sainsbury's store in Spring Bank, west Hull. She had been accused of calling the manager a "P***".
Giving evidence, Gibbon had told the court: "I'm not a racist or anything like that. I wouldn't say something like that in a shop. There's a line you don't cross."
She described herself as an alcoholic on that occasion, and said she had already drunk "six or seven" cans of Karpackie, the 9 per cent strong Polish beer, when she entered the store.
Gibbon admitted assault by beating in the same incident after throwing a red notebook at the manager, which hit him on the head.
