Taxi Driver Online

Cabbie Bottled In Row Over Dud Note

1st July 2009

A cabbie who confronted passengers after he was handed a fake £20 was beaten and hit over the head with a bottle, a court heard.

John Mahoney, 28, of Meadow View, Orpington, was jailed for 10 months last Friday after he admitted causing actual bodily harm to taxi driver Turan Ozcelik.

His fellow passenger Michelle Young, 25, of Thursley Crescent, New Addington, who handed him the wine bottle during the incident on New Year's Day also pleaded guilty to the charge and was given a community order which includes an alcohol treatment programme.

A third passenger, Greg Coleman, 30, of Oakbrook Close, Bromley, did not appear in court to face the charge and a warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Prosecuting, Miss Shahnez Ahmed said taxi driver Mr Ozcelik picked up the three passengers and took them to Burnt Ash Heights in Pike Close.

Mahoney paid the fare with £20 and Mr Ozcelik gave him £10 change.

Miss Ahmed said: "The three walked towards the entrance of the block of flats and the driver realised the note he had been given was a fake.

"He confronted Mahoney, who took the note back and started to argue. Mr Ozcelik asked him to give back the £10 change and he offered to forget the fare altogether.

"Mahoney became abusive and Coleman joined in."

Mr Ozcelik was punched and kicked and Young handed a wine bottle to Mahoney who hit him over the head with it.

Blood was pouring from his head and a woman passer-by came to his aid.

Mr Ozcelik recalled later: "I couldn't breathe as I have asthma. I was taken to Lewisham Hospital and my head was X-rayed."

Susan Rodham, defending, said Mahoney had not really believed the £20 note was a dud.

He had been drinking heavily the night before and had acted in a way he would not ordinarily have done.

But the court was reminded that Mahoney had 40 previous offences on his record, two of them for assaults on police.

For Young, Christopher Gillespie said she had an alcohol problem and she had little recollection of what happened on that day, but she accepted that unpleasant injuries had been caused by the bottle she had handed over to Mahoney.

Source; bromleytimes.co.uk

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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That's why ppl don't go out clubbing anymore because of the likes of this lot who after getting caught can't remember anything but are really sorry, with 40 prior's on his record he's a real model ain't he.

Also all this unmet demand stuff for the hours of 11pm - 4am isn't hard to work out is it, it's not a lack of cabs, it's a lack of drivers who are prepared to put up with ppl like it to earn a fiver, add the druggies in and who in their right mind would want to drive a cab at kick out time.

Weren't any of them charged in connection with the forged £20 note?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

I didn't think it was illegal to be in possession of one forged note

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

It is illegal to tender it as genuine, is it not?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Not sure to be honest. I tendered one at the bank in error and they just took it off me and it was them who told me it wasn't illegal to have only one. Probably because they can be tendered in error

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Oh yes.

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IDFIMH

I did the same myself some years back and because I new the teller I thought she was winding me up - but the same as Toots they just took it off of me.

As illegal as it is I do not think for one minute they would charge you for one note, but more than one or two and you could have a new abode.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

I took a dud £20 note to the bank over ten years ago. When the teller said it was a forgery, I told her that I did not believe her & asked to examine it.

She passed the note to me, I had a quick look, verified it was a forgery, ripped it up into eight pieces & stuck the pieces in my trouser pocket. She said she wanted the pieces back, but I told her that they were my pieces of paper, not hers & that I knew who had given me the piece of paper.

The manager came out & asked me to hand over the forged £20 note, to which I said it was no longer a forged £20 note, but eight pieces of paper & they were mine not his. I refused to had the eight pieces of paper over.

The banking amount was adjusted by £20 & I left the bank, without being further challenged, because the forged £20 note was now eight pieces of paper which were mine & nobody elses.

What eventually happened to my eight pieces of paper, which resembled a £20 note in jigsaw form, I will leave to your imagination!!!

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
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