Swedish sailor ended up in hot water for drunken bust-up with taxi driverA tanker was stuck in Dundee port after its Swedish chief engineer assaulted a taxi driver – after trying to pay his fare in Krona.
The 117m-long asphalt/bitumen tanker Alcedo had been due to depart from the Tay estuary bound for Gothenburg in the early hours of Wednesday but remained moored in port after the drunken sailor was jailed.
Kent Berg, 60, appeared from custody before Sheriff Lorna Drummond and admitted assaulting James Page on Tuesday by putting his arm around his neck and struggling with him.
Depute fiscal Kirsten Thomson said the 6,556-tonne Alcedo was set to leave at 4.30am but couldn’t because its chief engineer was in custody.
He had gone to a taxi rank in Dundee at about 7.30pm on Tuesday night and asked Mr Page to take him to the docks.
The fiscal said: “He observed him to be heavily under the influence of alcohol. He was slurring his words and couldn’t keep his eyes open.
“Arriving at the docks, he attempted to pay for the fare in Swedish currency.”
The taxi driver refused the Krona and said he would take the accused to a cash machine to settle the fare. But when they arrived at the ATM, Berg refused to pay and tried to get out of the taxi.
Ms Thomson said: “Things got heated, Mr Page activated the child locks to prevent him (Berg) from leaving the taxi and said he was taking him to police headquarters.
“Whilst driving, the accused leaned forward from the (rear) passenger seat and put his arm around Mr Page’s neck and shouted at him: ‘Do you wanna die?’”
The taxi driver pulled over and a member of the public who saw the pair struggling went to assist. The police were called and Berg was arrested.
Defence agent David Sinclair said the seaman had never been in trouble before. This was his last voyage before retirement.
He admitted his client did not have a clear recollection of events but “he was under the impression that the taxi driver was taking advantage of his drunken state and was trying to make more money than was reasonable in the circumstances”.
Mr Sinclair said there could be consequences as a result of the vessel being delayed in its departure to Sweden.
Berg was ordered to pay compensation of £250 to the taxi driver.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/ ... r-1.883043
Login
Register
FAQ
