Wouldn't bother with this, because it's behind a tight paywall, but it's another money-up-front incident, thus interesting alongside the Carlisle case.
And there's enough here to get the idea. And 'narrowly avoids jail' might well mean a suspended sentence...
Bigot 'degraded' terrified taxi driver in racist rant at 2amhttps://www.shropshirestar.com/news/202 ... nt-at-2am/A Shropshire man who used vile slurs in a racially abusive tirade against a taxi driver who had asked him to pay his way upfront has narrowly avoided jail.The frightened driver feared for his safety when a "screaming" Brett Willets squared up to him, a court heard.
Prosecutor Katie Price told Telford Magistrates Court the confrontation came about in the early hours of July 31 last year in Aberystwyth, when Willets and another man approached Shadat Choudury as he sat in his taxi in Great Darkgate Street.
The two men asked the driver if he was working and if he could take them to Borth, the court heard.
After they got in the back of the taxi, Mr Choudury said the fare would be £23 and asked for it to be paid upfront, at which point Willets, of Ellesmere Road in Shrewsbury, became abusive.
"One of them [Willets] started becoming verbally aggressive," Mrs Price said. "The other one tried to calm him down.
"[Willets] started swearing in the back of the taxi. He said 'are you teaching me to speak my language?' The man then got out of the taxi."
Willets, who is 31, then called the driver a P***, told him to "go back to [his] own country" and said "you don't even belong here".
Willets was charged with one racially aggravated assault and one racially aggravated public order offence. He pleaded guilty to both offences last month.
He came to Telford Magistrates Court to be sentenced on Wednesday (February 12).
In mitigation, Tom Lloyd told the court Willets has "taken full responsibility" and expressed remorse for his actions.
He has seen the CCTV footage of the attack and is "scared" of his own behaviour at the time, Mr Lloyd said.
District Judge Ian Barnes addressed Willets directly in summing up the case:
"The ability to use taxis is clearly a privilege and is a modern convenience that we often rely on.
"You utterly degraded Mr Choudury with your words and your behaviour. You expressed vile abuse to him, expressing your bigoted views.
"There is no place in our society for such behaviour. You went on to make threats to assault him, and you did assault him.
"He felt terrified. He was just trying to do his job."
The judge said Willets' crimes easily passed the 'custody threshold' - but said that an "intensive" community-based sentence would present a more realistic chance of rehabilitation.
The sentence he passed was one of 26 weeks in prison for the assault plus 14 weeks in prison for the public order offence, concurrent with each other and both suspended for 18 months.
It includes a 120-day alcohol monitoring requirement, 25 days of rehabilitation activity and 240 hours of unpaid work.
He must also pay £580 in compensation to the taxi driver.
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