Hull man Alan Carter, 54, spared jail after headbutting taxi driver in row about 'foreigners'
SPARED PRISON: Alan Carter has been ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation after he headbutted a taxi driver.
A MAN who was given six months to pay compensation to a taxi driver he headbutted in a row about "foreigners" has been spared jail.
Alan Carter, 54, was told by Judge Michael Mettyear at an earlier hearing that he would be jailed if he did not save up cash to compensate Salem Tarhuni.
Carter, of Flaxdale Court, west Hull, had become aggressive and was swearing while travelling in Mr Tarhuni's taxi.
The driver said he was concerned by some of the conversations between him and the three other passengers in the cab after picking them up from the Odd Bottle pub in Wold Road, west Hull.
A female passenger said: "Foreigners. What are they doing in my country?"
Carter replied: "Leave it. I'll sort him out."
Prosecuting, Christopher Dunn said: "He had dropped off a couple in Helmsley Grove and carried on driving the remaining couple home.
"The male and female became abusive and, eventually, he stopped outside their address.
"The female got out of the car and payment was required.
"The defendant said: "I'm not f****** paying that b*******."
Mr Tarhuni then contacted the police via an emergency button in his taxi and started to drive off with Carter still in the car.
Mr Dunn said: "The defendant grabbed him around the neck and headbutted him twice and then punched him twice in the left ear.
"Several other taxis attended and the defendant attempted to grab the keys from the ignition."
Carter, a heavy goods vehicle driver, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
In July, he was told to spend six months saving cash up to compensate his victim, but the court heard he had managed to save just £100 because he had to pay more than £5,000 in legal fees.
Judge Michael Mettyear agreed the courts would pay half the fees, but ordered Carter to give £1,000 of the cash he would save to the victim.
He was also ordered to pay a £500 fine and £1,200 in court costs.
Defending, John Thackray said: "Because he has been paying off legal fees, he has only been able to save £100 for the complainant, which you would say was inadequate.
"He is in full-time work, he has kept out of trouble but he is receiving demanding letters from legal aid and he has had to pay for that."
Judge Mettyear said he would normally send people who attack taxi drivers to jail.
"Taxi drivers have a difficult job to do, made more difficult by people like you, who, on this occasion, caused trouble by acting in this horrific and violent way," he said.
"Taxi drivers deserve and need the protection from the court and that is why I almost always send people who assault them to prison straight away."
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