Taxi Driver Online

This piece is tightly paywalled, but found a version of it on Facebook. Which doesn't seem to be the full article, but enough to get the gist of it all.

But I'm sure anyone who's work the ranks for any length of time will be familiar with this type of scenario. Or, at least can recognise how the likes of this could arise, although most disputes don't go quite this far

(And although as far as I know it was about a different kind of rank etiquette, I think the fisticuffs here in St Andrews a couple of years ago was about a rank queue-jumping incident )


Taxi driver is convicted of assaulting fellow driver at Belfast International Airport

A TAXI driver who had contested charges has been convicted of disorderly behaviour and assaulting a fellow taxi driver at Belfast International Airport.

He was convicted in relation to Monday January 29, 2024.

The case was heard at Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena, this week.

There had been a dispute about a "fare".

A taxi driver told the court a customer approached wanting to go to Antrim town and after a discussion about the fare the customer walked away.

"Within a few minutes" another "fare came out" and he took them to Donegal.

Later, when he returned from Donegal, the driver said the defendant got out of a taxi and "roughly knocked" the window of his cab.

He said he put his window down slightly and the defendant was "very aggressive" and accused him of "short changing him in the job. He proceeded to spit on me". The complainant said the spit was intentional.

He said the defendant said he was "going to beat my b*llocks in" and was "going to break my jaw".

He said the defendant said he wanted to have a "fist fight".

The driver said he told the defendant to "catch himself on".

A defence barrister said the defendant believed he should have got the Donegal job given the taxi rank system.

The defendant claimed the other driver spat at him. The driver denied that and said spitting was the "lowest".

The defendant also denied spitting at the other driver.

District Judge Nigel Broderick said the case came down to a "question of credibility".

He said: "I believe the complainant's account and I convict the defendant".

* Further details available to page subscribers.

It's a 109 mile job

Bet if it had been a round-the-corner job they'd be trying to broom it, not fighting over who gets it

I suspect driver number two undercut driver number one.

Now that would right miff me off, but not enough to have a spitting row and make threats against someone.

Well, not in public at least.

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IDFIMH