Falmouth man beat up wrong taxi driver in row over tenner A Falmouth man vented his anger by beating up an innocent taxi driver after another vehicle had driven off without him, a court in Truro has heard.
Mark Anthony Rodriguez became angry because a driver had driven off after being given £10 to wait for him, and took it out on a driver from the same firm, punching him in the face and trying to grab his cash bag.
The driver, Christopher John Symons, was left bleeding from cuts to his mouth and a bruised nose and felt unable to carry on working.
When Rodriguez, 47, of Dracaena Avenue, was before Truro magistrates to plead guilty to assaulting him on the night of October 16, Mr Symons’ victim personal statement was read.
In it he said Rodriguez should be dealt with in a way to prevent anyone else doing the same thing.
Alison May for the CPS said Mr Symons was on the rank at Truro rail station when he saw Rodriguez having an altercation with another driver, who drove off. Rodriguez opened the front passenger door of Mr Symons’ car and said that one of his colleagues had picked him up earlier, and had done him out of £10. As Mr Symons was from the same firm he should pay him that sum.
Mr Symons said it was nothing to do with him, and Rodriguez tried to grab the cash bag. Both men were out of the taxi then, and Rodriguez punched Mr Symons in the face, causing severe pain and a lot of bleeding from his nose and mouth.
Mr Symons was not in a fit state to work after that.
Rodriguez told the police that after his first driver had let him down, he went to Mr Symons’ taxi to sort it out.
Rodriguez had previous convictions dating back to the 1980s. He was currently on licence recall after being sent to prison in January last year for burglary.
Jeremy Leaning for Rodriguez said the attack had been born of frustration and anger and he very much regretted it, having since offered his apology to his victim.
He had taken a taxi to a friend’s house, giving the driver £10 to wait until he came out. But when he did so, the taxi had gone. He went to the rank to see about it.
Mr Leaning said Rodriguez’ extensive record of offending contained very few offences of violence, the last being in 2006 when he assaulted two police officers. He was someone not violent by nature, or prone to violent outbursts.
The magistrates, recognising that the attack had been on a public servant while the defendant was on licence, and with a shocking criminal record, sent him to prison for four months. He had to pay £250 compensation to Mr Symons and £50 prosecution costs.
source:
http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/14 ... er_tenner/
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so wouldn't even start to cover lost earnings
