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Intoxicated father punched taxi driver in the face over £10 note in 'unforgivable' attack
A dad on a night out with a friend punched a taxi driver in the face in an "unforgivable" attack. An intoxicated Billy Wheeler struck the taxi driver after arguing about the £10 his mate had used to pay the fare.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Wheeler cannot remember being in the taxi let alone the assault but is "genuinely remorseful" for his conduct. Eugene Egan, prosecuting, said at around half-past midnight on June 30 last year Wheeler and a friend took a cab home from a pub in the Whitchurch area of Cardiff.
The defendant's companion got out in Llanishen and handed the cabbie £10 before the taxi continued on towards Cyncoed. The court heard 42-year-old Wheeler began demanding to have the £10 his friend had handed over, and a row between driver and back seat passenger followed.
Mr Egan said Wheeler swung a number of punches at the cabbie, one of which hit him on the left cheek. Wheeler exited the vehicle and tried to punch the driver again but the cabbie pulled away. The defendant then threw the mobile phone charger he was holding at the vehicle, hitting the rear window with such force that the glass shattered. Wheeler ran after the cab as it drove away.
The court heard the victim suffered a sore cheek as a result of the attack, had to take three days off work, and has seen his insurance premiums rise by £500.
In his subsequent police interview Wheeler said he could remember nothing about the journey due to the amount of vodka, Valium and paracetamol he had consumed on the night in question. However, the court heard CCTV footage from the pub showed the defendant getting into the cab, and DNA from the phone charger thrown through the window was matched to him.
Wheeler, of Nelson Terrace, Brithdir, Bargoed, had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and to criminal damage when he appeared in the dock for sentencing on Friday, June 5. He had originally been charged with robbery but the Crown did not pursue that charge.
The court heard he has several previous convictions for violence including two for ABH, unlawful wounding, and robbery all dating from the 1990s.
David Leathley, for Wheeler, described the defendant's behaviour on the night as "shameful conduct", for which he was "genuinely remorseful". He said his client's last conviction for violence had been two decades go, and that his partner "is the reason he has gone straight" in the intervening years.
Judge Michael Fitton QC said taxi drivers often had to put up with the kinds of behaviour that most people would not tolerate, but what the defendant had done had been "unforgivable".
Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, the judge sentenced him to six months prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to complete 100 hours of unpaid work as well as a rehabilitation course. Wheeler must also pay his victim £820 compensation.
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