Taxi Driver Online

Drunk yob attacked cabbie and partner




A FATHER punched a taxi driver in a row over a £7 fare and then butted his partner.

Shane Liddell was already drunk when he got in a taxi in Hanley for a £7 or £8 fare to St Nicholas Avenue, in Norton.

But after arriving in Norton the 26-year-old punched the driver rather than pay the fare.

Amy Jacobs, prosecuting, told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court: "He punched him, making contact with the top of his lip.

"He punched him a second time making contact with his face.

"The driver tried to punch back to get him to stop attacking him.

"He noticed the taxi had begun to roll backwards. He managed to stop the movement. The defendant was still punching him.

"But the driver managed to open the door behind Liddell and pushed him so he fell out."

The driver drove off to the top of the road and after three or four minutes he went back and saw the defendant go into a flat.

Miss Jacobs said Liddell was stood by the window shouting: "I am going to kill you."

The driver, who suffered grazing and tenderness to the right side of his face, jaw and lip and a pain to his neck, called police.

The court heard Liddell's partner asked him what had gone on and he told her to shut up.

Miss Jacobs added: "He punched the living room door with both hands.

"A child came into the living room upset. His partner told him to calm down.

"He moved into the kitchen, punching and kicking the kitchen door.

"She decided to call the taxi firm to complain about what she had seen. The defendant snatched the phone. He was abusive and threw the phone in the kitchen.

"The defendant asked her for money, she refused and he verbally abused her and pulled her hair. He butted her to the right side of her head. She threw money at him to try to get him to leave her alone."

The court heard Liddell noticed the phone had a cracked screen and threw it at a mirror, smashing it.

His partner, who was left with soreness to her head, left her home with her two children.

Liddell, of Chetwynd Street, Smallthorne, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and criminal damage on November 5. He was in breach of a suspended sentence order for an assault.

Angela Berrisford, mitigating, urged Recorder Patrick Thompson to pass a non-custodial sentence.

"His level of intoxication led him to misunderstand the situation," she said.

"He is genuinely ashamed. This is an isolated incident."

Recorder Thompson sentenced Liddell to six months in prison, suspended for two years, with 12 months' supervision, structured intervention to address domestic abuse issues for 60 days, eight sessions at Adsis (Alcohol and drug services in Staffordshire) and 240 hours' unpaid work. He must also pay £200 compensation and £300 costs.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," said Recorder Thompson. "Men who hit women are always regarded as the lowest of the low, it is the ultimate act of cowardice. You behaved like a drunken yob."

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Dr ... story.html

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