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PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 9:29 pm 
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Don't know if this is of huge interest, but while there's plenty of reports of fights in taxi rank queues, can't recall any resulting in death, recently at least.

And because I worked this rank once upon a time, and still drive passengers to the area, obviously it's of some personal interest 8-[

Anyway, the t-word isn't even mentioned in this brief initial report, and will try only to post the most relevant stuff, as opposed to the stuff unrelated to the taxi rank altercation.


Two men in court as trial begins over death of Brian Fox in Dundee on Hogmanay

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... -liam-fox/

Two men are standing trial over a string of assaults and the death of Brian Fox on Hogmanay

Wes Reid, 20, and Adam Valentine, 25, stand accused of a number of assault and public disorder charges on the night of December 31 last year, including one that resulted in the death of Mr Fox, 62.

It is alleged the pair punched Mr Fox, causing his head to crash on to the ground, killing him.

The pair deny the charges, claiming self defence.

Valentine, of HMP Perth, also faces charges of assaulting Connell Grieve, Graeme Allen, Sandra Baird, Kenneth Simpson, Amy Elaine, Katie Muir and Alexander Bowman.

Reid, of Newport Road, Tayport, claims Mr Fox was going to punch him.

Advocate Depute Mark McGuire read a list of agreed evidence taken from CCTV footage from a number of city centre and West End pubs and streets.

No witnesses have been called yet.

The trial before Lord Beckett in Edinburgh High Court continues.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 9:43 pm 
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Have amended the eariler thread title, because of course they're accused of culpable homicide, not murder, thus roughly the Scottish equivalent of manslaughter in England.

Evening Telegraph wrote:
Wes Reid, 20, and Adam Valentine, 25, are on trial charged with his culpable homicide, which they both deny, alongside a litany of other charges.

Both are accused of acting together in assaulting Mr Fox, punching him on the head and causing him to strike his head on the ground, thereafter punching him on the head again.

Prosecutors allege this led to Mr Fox’s death.

They also face a joint charge of committing a breach of the peace in Perth Road, Nethergate and elsewhere in Dundee City Centre on January 1.

Valentine is also contesting seven individual assault charges.

Both have entered special defences of self-defense in relation to some of the charges.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 10:55 pm 
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The court will decide exactly what happened.

But it just goes to show how matters can turn from a disagreement in a taxi queue to some poor fella losing his life.

:sad:

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 11:41 am 
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Dundee Hogmanay brawl in which Brian Fox died began over a taxi disagreement, court hears

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... to-a-taxi/

The head of a man who died in a Hogmanay brawl made a “horrible noise” when it hit the road, Edinburgh High Court heard.

Joanne Floyd, 49, was giving evidence on the first day of the trial against Adam Valentine, 25, and Wes Reid, 20, who are accused of a string of offences on December 31 last year into the early hours of January 1.

The street brawl, which ultimately lead to Mr Fox’s death, erupted as Reid, Valentine and a female companion tried to force their way into a taxi.

It is alleged the pair assaulted Mr Fox, forcing him to fall on the road and thereafter struck him again.

The pair also face a breach of the peace charge and Valentine is accused of six other assault charges.

Reid, of Newport Road, Tayport, and Valentine, of HMP Perth, deny the charges and claim they acted in self defence.

The court heard how Ms Floyd’s night had started at the Queen’s Hotel for a ceilidh with her husband and friends before making their way to the taxi rank near Steeple Church, where she would go on to see “a lot of violence”.

Ms Floyd turned around after hearing a “loud bang” near the Nether Inn to see Valentine and Reid singing loudly and waving their arms in the air and a bin overturned.

She went on to say that Reid and Valentine, along with a female friend, skipped to the front of the taxi queue and tried to force their way into one as it pulled up.

Ms Floyd indicated that Reid then repeatedly punched the taxi window with a vape pen, which bounced out of his hand and “flew right past my head”.

She said: “The taxi driver stopped and got out, but was punched and fell back into his taxi and drove off.”

Ms Floyd said an “older couple” had tried to calm down the situation but were ultimately pushed to the ground. Ms Floyd rushed to help the woman, who remained on the ground for some time.

It was while helping the woman that she looked up and said she saw Reid punch Mr Fox.

She said: “When he landed on the ground it made a horrible noise.

“The other man (Valentine) then came up and punched the man on the side.”

Ms Floyd was challenged over why she didn’t originally tell police she saw the punch land when interviewed just hours later.

She said: “It was like a bad dream and I didn’t want to remember it.

When asked if she remembers seeing both punches clearly now, she said “yes”.

Also giving evidence yesterday was Connell Grieve, 24, one of the alleged assault victims.

The Selkirk man was in Dundee to celebrate the new year with a friend and his girlfriend. The trio were getting into the taxi that Reid, Valentine and the female companion tried to force themselves into.

Mr Grieve told the court how he was “brushed aside” by one of the men, but managed to make it into the taxi nonetheless.

From inside, he saw the taxi driver being assaulted, but the vehicle had driven away by the time Mr Fox became involved.

The trial before Lord Beckett continues.


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 4:16 pm 
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More details of the various charges - sounds like they were kicking off well before they got to the rank :?

Not sure if the taxi driver is one of the alleged assault victims :-|


Accused pair enter claim of self-defence

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/h ... te-begins/

The charges faced by both accused – Adam Valentine and Wes Reid – allege that, while acting together, the pair assaulted Brian Fox and punched him on the head, causing him to strike his head on the ground and again punched him on the head and killed him.

Valentine faces a host of other charges of assault and disorderly conduct on the night of January 1 – while both men are accused of conducting themselves in a disorderly manner by overturning a bin, swinging from an awning, shouting, swearing, making threats of violence, repeatedly striking a vehicle and committing a breach of the peace.

Valentine is accused of assaulting Connell Owen Grieve by grabbing him by the clothing, and of assaulting Graeme Dow Allen by punching him on the head, causing him to hit it on a car door and then punching him repeatedly.

Valentine is also accused of further assaults on Sandra Jean Baird, Kenneth Smith Simpson, Katie Elise Muir and Alexander Ross Bowman.

Valentine is further accused of, while acting with another, assaulting Amy Elaine McFadyen by seizing her by the hair, punching her on the head and knocking her to the ground, as well as repeatedly punching and kicking her on the head and body, all to her injury.

Each has entered a special defence of self-defence in relation to separate charges.

The trial is being heard in front of judge Lord Beckett at the High Court in Edinburgh and is expected to last well into next week as evidence is given.


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 5:06 pm 
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Quote:
She said: “The taxi driver stopped and got out, but was punched and fell back into his taxi and drove off.”

Very strong piece of evidence.

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 1:58 pm 
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Court shown footage of street brawl which proved fatal for Dundee man Brian Fox

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... brian-fox/

Brian Fox was punched on the “upper body or the head” just seconds after crashing to the ground during a mass brawl which cost his life, a court has heard.

CCTV footage was shown on the second day of the trial against Wes Reid, 20, and Adam Valentine, 25, who face culpable homicide charges over the death of Mr Fox in the early hours of January 1.

The pair are also accused of a breach of the peace disorder and Valentine, of HMP Perth, faces a string of other assault charges said to have taken place in the late hours of December 31 last year and the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Reid and Valentine deny the charges, with Reid, of Newport Road, Tayport, claiming he acted in self defence.

Edinburgh High Court was shown CCTV footage from the night, as well as clothing seized by police from the respective homes of Reid and Valentine in the days following the incident.

Nike trainers taken while Reid was in custody between January 3 and 4 were also shown to the jury.

Acting Detective Sergeant Ian Borthwick identified the two men via their clothing in the footage.

The court was shown footage of Reid meeting up with Valentine and Shannon Sykes and drinking at the Boozy Cow, on Roseangle.

After that they headed towards the city centre, with Reid kicking over a bin near Groucho’s before they make it to the taxi rank near the Steeple Church.

The camera footage then showed a taxi driving up Union Street and quickly turning towards the taxi rank.

It braked sharply just before coming to Valentine and Reid, who were on the road.

A scuffle ensued with the driver door of the vehicle opening. The taxi eventually drove away.

It was around this point Mr Fox could be seen entering the frame, but not getting involved in the brawl.

Two people are then seen to fall to the ground, having been shoved by two men wearing similar clothing to Reid and Valentine, the court heard.

However, defence counsel Mark Stewart suggested that Valentine was actually being pushed as well and stumbled into the two people as a result.

Mr Borthwick said the people on the road remained “motionless” for some time.

A group formed near the two people on the road with more pushing and shoving occurring.

It was at this point Mr Fox approached the group and was knocked to the ground by a man wearing similar clothing as Reid.

Describing the footage to the court, Mr Borthwick said: “He (Reid) moves forward to Mr Fox with his forearms raised…outstretched at chest level. Mr Fox has fallen on to his back on to the road.

“A person (matching Valentine’s clothing) approaches Mr Fox while he is still on the ground and appears to punch him with his right hand around the chest area or near the head, but it is difficult to say as someone is in the way of the camera.”

When asked how long Mr Fox was on the ground before the man resembling Valentine lunges towards him, Mr Borthwick said: “Three seconds.”

Advocate Depute Mark McGuire asked: “What effort, if any, did they (Reid and Valentine) make to help the people on the ground?”

“None whatsoever,” Mr Borthwick answered.

The court was then shown footage of the Reid, Valentine and Ms Sykes heading down Couttie’s Wynd, towards Crichton Street and then through the city centre towards Seagate.

While there, the two men appearing to be Reid and Valentine walked arm in arm on the road.

Defence counsel for Reid, QC Donald Findlay highlighted the part of the camera footage showing Mr Fox fall to the ground.

He said: “What didn’t Mr Fox do?”

After some guidance, Mr Borthwick said: “He didn’t put his hands out to break his fall.”

Mr Findlay suggested this may have been because of the amount of alcohol in Mr Fox’s system, which a toxicology report states was 226mg per 100ml of urine, more than three times the drink drive limit.

Mr Findlay said that “tempers flared” with Reid when the taxi nearly struck him.

He added: “When people have had something to drink, they may not be the same person.”

The trial before Lord Beckett continues.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 2:01 pm 
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Quote:
The camera footage then showed a taxi driving up Union Street and quickly turning towards the taxi rank.

It braked sharply just before coming to Valentine and Reid, who were on the road.

A scuffle ensued with the driver door of the vehicle opening. The taxi eventually drove away.

Head of the rank quite close to the top of Union Street, and driver exiting Union Street would have been facing the wrong way as regards the rank on the other side of the road.

I'm guessing they ran out as the taxi appeared out of Union Street, possibly running in front of it to stop it.

Quote:
Mr Findlay said that “tempers flared” with Reid when the taxi nearly struck him.

Who'd have thought that defence counsel would try to blame the taxi driver for nearly hitting him [-(


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:58 pm 
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For what it's worth, this is the crime scene, and the queue would have started at the front of the rank where the traffic cones and wheelie bins can be seen in the photo.

The police van is coming out of Union Street, which is how the taxi would have appeared to the people queueing. By the sounds of it I'm guessing that the pair ran out from the rank queue into the road when the taxi appeared, and stopped it before it actually got onto the rank.

Then it all kicked off.

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 03, 2019 6:17 pm 
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So taxis coming out of that junction have to do a U turn to join the rank?

If so that can't be the first time there has been argy bargy there.

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 03, 2019 6:31 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
So taxis coming out of that junction have to do a U turn to join the rank?

If so that can't be the first time there has been argy bargy there.


Indeed, but it's more of a side street, and the vast majority of taxis approaching the rank will do so in the 'right' direction from the inner ring road nearby.

And I suspect some drivers approaching from that side street would drive onto the rank facing in the 'wrong' direction if there was a queue of people and no other taxis around.

But I wouldn't be surprised if the whole kick off only happened because the taxi suddenly appeared from an odd direction, and because of that the pair thought they could jump out of the queue, stop the taxi and take it out of turn. If the taxi had approached the rank in the more normal way then the whole kick off might never have happened :?


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 12:56 pm 
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Slightly different wording in an alternative report, which makes it sound like the taxi *did* make it onto the rank, perhaps facing in the wrong direction, but sounds like the accused pair almost certainly jumped out in front of the taxi, causing it to nearly hit them. Which the defence QC tried to pin the blame on the taxi driver for :roll:

Quote:
Towards the end of the footage, a taxi is seen to pull out of a side street and across the road into the taxi rank on the Nethergate, almost striking men who DS Borthwick agreed resembled Reid and Valentine.


Probably not really that important as far as the actual charges go. But obviously this kind of thing will ring a bell with many drivers. I recall a good few years ago when a local police inspector came to inspect our rank shambles one night, and sent out a letter accusing drivers of stopping for flaggers and queuers too far away from the pavement.

Er, maybe this was because of the amount of people who tend to jump out when a taxi arrives, even if they're first in the queue? :-s

All of which kind of reminds me why I'm partly glad that queues of taxis rather than queues of people are more likely theses days - it stops queue jumping, rammies over taxis, people jumping in front of you etc.

Not that St Andrews has ever felt as dangerous as Dundee, but still quite a few incidents over the years, and I recall at least one press report about an assault between people waiting in a queue.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 3:48 pm 
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Anyway, latest from the trial:

Witness says Brian Fox’s serious injuries were immediately apparent after he hit his head on the road

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/w ... -the-road/

A man who fell to the ground in a taxi rank and later died was bleeding from the mouth and his eyes had rolled into the back of his head, a court has been told.

Amy McFadyen told the High Court in Edinburgh that Brian Fox’s injuries were immediately apparent as “quite bad” after he hit his head on the road in the Nethergate on January 1.

Wes Reid, 20, and Adam Valentine, 25, are charged with his culpable homicide, which they deny.

Miss McFadyen, 22, described how she and her friend Katie Reid had been out celebrating the New Year before going to the Nethergate to get a taxi home.

The live-in carer told the jury she had been attacked after two others had fallen into the road at the Nethergate taxi rank opposite the Steeple Church.

She said a man she identified as Valentine had approached her and called her something like a “little b****”, and she had put out her hand to defend herself from what she anticipated would be an attack.

She made contact with his face before being attacked from the side, and described being curled up in the foetal position as she was kicked by several people.

Advocate depute Mark McGuire, for the prosecution, asked her what happened next.

“A few seconds after, I looked up and I seen an older gentleman to the right of me and I saw one of the boys strike the man,” she said.

“I couldn’t tell if it was a headbutt or a punch and he fell like a tree and his head hit the floor. We heard his head hitting the floor.

“I didn’t know if he was crossing the road, he wasn’t saying anything, he wasn’t trying to be involved.

“From the noise I knew it was quite bad. I shrieked: ‘You’ve killed him’.

“Blood was coming out his mouth and his eyes were out the back of his head.”

The court had heard that McFadyen had recognised her attacker as Valentine at the moment of the assault, having “known of him” beforehand.

However, Mark Stewart QC, for Valentine, suggested she had in fact only found out who he was by going on social media after the attack had taken place.

He suggested: “Did you embark on a search of social media to try to identify any others…you had seen in the taxi rank that night?”

Miss McFadyen responded: “I did but not the male I had known previously (Valentine).”

The trial, before Lord Beckett, continues.


Dundee woman left scarred and with tinnitus after New Year taxi brawl that killed Brian Fox, trial hears

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... ial-hears/

A woman has been left scarred and suffering with tinnitus after being pushed to the ground during the taxi rank brawl that killed Brian Fox, a court has heard.

Sandra Baird, 64, was giving evidence on the third day of the trial against Adam Valentine, 25, and Wes Reid, 20.

The pair are accused of the culpable homicide of Mr Fox as well as a breach of the peace offence in the late hours of 31 December last year and the early hours of January 1 this year.

Valentine, of HMP Perth, faces a string of other assault charges.

Both men deny the charges and Reid, of Newport Road, Tayport, claims to have been acting in self defence.

Mrs Baird told Edinburgh High Court how she had been out with a friend at the DCA to celebrate the new year before heading to the taxi rank outside the Steeple Church.

The court had previously heard how a mass brawl had broken out after an argument over getting into a taxi, which ultimately lead to the death of Mr Fox.

After the taxi in question pulled away from the rank, Mrs Baird and her friend, Kenneth Simpson, were then pushed to the ground from behind.

She said: “We were looking the other way trying to not get involved.

“Then I was pushed to the ground and was knocked out.

“When I came to I was a bit out of it.

“I have been left with a scar on my chin because it was an open wound and I have tinnitus because of the knock to the head.”

Mrs Baird was later taken to hospital and checked over.

The court was shown photographs detailing the injuries Mrs Baird sustained that night. These included cuts and bruises to her face, arms and knees.

The trial before Lord Beckett continues.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 3:52 pm 
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Quote:
She made contact with his face before being attacked from the side, and described being curled up in the foetal position as she was kicked by several people.

I wonder if one of the 'several people' who kicked her included the female who was with the two males and was originally charged in connection with the incident?

Evening Telegraph wrote:
A third accused, Shannon Sykes, appeared in court last week facing charges of assault relating to alleged attacks in the moments before the alleged murder.

Sykes, 21, of Glasgow, faced two charges of assault relating to alleged incidents shortly before the murder.

She was released on bail ahead of further court dates being set.


That court appearance was back in January, just a few days after the incident.

So not clear whether she's admitted the charges and was disposed of separately, or she's yet to be tried separately, or whether maybe the charges have been dropped :?


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:01 pm 
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Quote:
So not clear whether she's admitted the charges

I suspect that evidence is quite rightly being kept away from this case so to not influence the jury.

As for the trial I think the prosecution are putting their case very well.

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