Taxi Driver Online

Not sure what's going on here - no sign of any dispute, or anything like that. Suspect the pensioner just acting the 'big man', sort of thing.

Pensioner cocked imitation firearm and pointed it towards taxi driver, court told

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... ourt-told/

A taxi driver told of his shock as a pensioner cocked what he believed to be a hand gun and pointed it towards him.

Just seconds before the incident, William Begbie had spotted what he described as strange press cuttings and an assault rifle mounted on a wall of Thomas McCabe’s Leven house.

Mr Begbie, who had driven McCabe home from a pub, told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court the 73-year-old walked towards him going “through the motions of making the gun ready to fire by cocking the trigger”.

Initially, he said, McCabe held the gun in the flat of his palm but shifted it to a forward position.

He said: “By the time he had snapped the gun shut he was standing directly in front of me and for a brief two seconds the gun was actually pointed at my lower stomach.

“I felt my stomach take an actual vertical crash. I thought ‘what the hell?’, I couldn’t believe it, I was absolutely shocked.”

McCabe denied behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at his home in Green Gates by presenting an imitation firearm at Mr Begbie, spinning the barrel and cocking the hammer on May 26, last year.

He also denied having an imitation firearm, namely a deactivated revolver, without lawful authority at nearby Dyke Neuk on the same date.

Mr Begbie, 65, told the court McCabe, who had served in the army, had asked him to come into his house while he got money to pay his taxi fare.

McCabe went to another room. Mr Begbie said: “I immediately noticed press paraphernalia on the walls and military style photographs, groups of soldiers.”

He said the assault rifle was mounted among the photographs and cuttings and he saw derogatory comments written in red felt tip pen on the press cuttings, which he said may have pertained to IRA people.

Mr Begbie said he started to feel uncomfortable and then McCabe appeared in the doorway with what Mr Begbie identified as a Smith & Wesson and said: “What do you think of this?”

He said: “I was shocked, absolutely shocked.”

Mr Begbie said he was convinced it was a real gun and Begbie had “snapped open the magazine as if to check it was loaded” then snapped it shut again.

The court heard Mr Begbie had never met McCabe before he picked him up from McPhails bar in Leven at around 4.45pm that day.

McCabe, Mr Begbie said, told him he was “p***ed” as soon as he got in the car but had not smelled of alcohol.

The trial before Sheriff Alison McKay was adjourned until January 14.

Not sure why this is dragging on so long

Taxi driver who claims passenger pointed gun at him “locked himself away” for months

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... or-months/

A taxi driver who claimed a passenger cocked and pointed what he believed was a real handgun at him said the incident had impacted him psychologically.

William Begbie, 65, said former soldier Thomas McCabe pointed a Smith and Wesson revolver towards his stomach after he dropped him at his home in Leven.

He said he did not return to his work after the incident on May 26, 2017, and “locked myself away” for about four months.

Mr Begbie told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court: “Mr McCabe maybe thinks it was a bit of a practical joke, I don’t know, but the situation was realistic as far as I was concerned, considering he was a complete stranger to me.

“Somebody appears with a gun in their hand, you are going to think the worst.”

He added that he had “quite extensive” knowledge of guns, having won an exemplary shooting award as a teenage marksman with the air training corps and later experience of firing guns, and said the weapon looked and sounded real.

McCabe, 74, denies behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by pointing an imitation handgun at Mr Begbie, spinning the barrel and cocking the hammer at his home in Greengates.

He also denies being in possession of a deactivated revolver without lawful authority at nearby Dykeneuk.

The court was told officers were sent to McCabe’s home where they carried out observations after they had been contacted by Mr Begbie.

Temporary Sergeant Judson Howie said he saw the pensioner leaving the property and walking down a path towards a children’s play park and residential area.

He said: “I had asked for authority to intercept Mr McCabe. After that was received, I left my vehicle. I felt there was some sense of urgency.

“We ended up facing each other on the pathway. I explained there was intelligence to suggest he may be in possession of a firearm and he would be subject to a search.

“Within the waistband of his trousers, at the base of his back, there was a firearm in a holster which was covered by his shirt.

“I threw it to get it a distance away should there be a struggle. I wanted it to be out of reach.”

The court was later told the gun recovered from McCabe’s waistband was different from the weapon described by the taxi driver.

Defence solicitor Mary Walker said her client had fully cooperated with police officers during the search of his person and his home.

She asked the officer if any Smith and Wesson revolver was found at the Greengates property, to which he confirmed there was not.

At an earlier hearing McCabe threatened to join the French Foreign Legion if there was another delay in his proceedings.

The case, in front of Sheriff Alison McKay, was adjourned until March 27.

clearly another nutter who shouldn't have been allowed a gun license

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Fife armed forces veteran found guilty of pointing revolver at taxi driver

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... xi-driver/


Image: The Courier/DC Thomson/David Wardle

A Fife pensioner was caught with a revolver in the waistband of his trousers just hours after pointing it at a taxi driver.

Thomas McCabe shook his head as he was convicted at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, having denied the two charges against him.

The 74-year-old left driver William Begbie “shaken and distressed” after pointing the deactivated weapon towards him, before opening the cylinder and cocking the hammer.

The incident took place within the living room of the former British Army soldier’s home in Greengates, Leven, on May 26 2017.

Mr Begbie had entered the property with McCabe so he could retrieve cash to pay for the taxi fare but was left horrified when the pensioner produced the Rossi revolver.

After the police were contacted by the 65-year-old driver, McCabe was spotted leaving his home and heading towards Dykeneuk in the town.

Police carried out a search and found the handgun tucked into his trousers. He claimed he was taking the item to a potential buyer.

McCabe, who served nine years with the parachute regiment, took the stand to give evidence on the third day of the trial.

He said: “When I returned to my living room, he (Mr Begbie) was staring at my war photos. He looked as if he was awestruck.

“Then he looked at my medals and saw the AK47 mounted on the wall.

“He asked if it was real and I said no, it was deactivated and was harmless. Then I said I also have this smaller one that has also been deactivated.

“I picked it up in my hand and opened the cylinder to show him that the chambers were all filled and couldn’t be loaded.

“I cocked the hammer and showed him that the firing pin had been removed completely.

“I then pointed it towards the ceiling and said that if he looked down the barrel he could see that it was spiked at both ends.

“Mr Begbie was quite happy and he left. He certainly was not distressed. Mr Begbie is a wannabe, a fantasist.

“He claimed that he was in the RAF then we find out that he was nothing of the sort.”

McCabe went on to explain that he was unable to call the man to whom he hoped to sell the gun as a witness as he needed to respect the man’s “privacy”.

Defence solicitor Mary Walker urged the sheriff to acquit her client and argued that Mr Begbie was a “Walter Mitty” character who had exaggerated his own experience with firearms.

She also said his failure to immediately contact police following the incident at McCabe’s home cast doubt on the events which had unfolded.

But Sheriff Alison McKay said she found the taxi driver had delivered his evidence in a “careful and measured manner”.

Sheriff McKay also rejected McCabe’s claims that he had been taking the revolver to a potential buyer which he was found at Dykeneuk on the same day.

She deferred sentence for background reports and will consider the Crown’s motion to seize the imitation firearm. He will reappear on April 24.

Veteran from Fife terrified taxi driver with imitation revolver

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... -revolver/

A pensioner who pointed an imitation firearm at a terrified taxi driver has been placed on a curfew.

Armed forces veteran Thomas McCabe, 74, left William Begbie shaken when he wielded what the driver believed was a real gun and cocked the hammer.

Mr Begbie, 65, had gone into McCabe’s home in Greengates, Leven, to collect a fare and saw military paraphernalia and an AK47 mounted on his wall.

At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, McCabe, who served with the parachute regiment in Ireland and Libya, was placed on a restriction of liberty order for six months requiring him to wear an electronic tag.

McCabe was convicted after trial of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by presenting an imitation firearm at Mr Begbie and possessing a deactivated revolver without lawful authority or reasonable excuse in nearby Dykeneuk.

He maintained his innocence as he was sentenced for the offences which occurred on May 26, 2017.

The court forfeited the revolver, worth £200, which was not the Smith and Wesson firearm described by Mr Begbie in the earlier incident.

Mr Begbie had told the court McCabe had cocked the hammer and briefly pointed what he thought was a real gun, and potentially loaded, towards his stomach.

McCabe said he was showing the weapon to Mr Begbie and told him it and the AK47 were deactivated.

Police were called after Mr Begbie returned to his depot and they saw McCabe leaving his home.

When McCabe was searched the deactivated revolver was found tucked into his trousers, which he claimed he was taking to a potential buyer.

As he was sentenced, his solicitor Mary Walker said McCabe maintained the position he took throughout his trial.

She added: “He does suffer from various health conditions, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder, which comes from his service in the army.”

Sheriff Alison McKay warned him: “I do consider both charges to be serious and, not withstanding your age and lack of previous offending, a custodial sentence is something the court has to consider.”

However, she imposed the order instead and due to his PTSD and anxiety about being “cooped up” in his house, she set the hour of his curfew to 8pm rather than 7pm.

McCabe challenged the Crown’s motion to forfeit his revolver but was told only the leather holster it was contained in would be returned.

He was also assured his AK47, taken as evidence, would be returned.

OH FFS so when he goes on a shooting rampage how will they justify doing that

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Clearly I was not in court to hear the trial, or allowed to read the pre-sentence report.

But I think the defendant should go out and buy a lottery ticket cos he is one lucky ***t.

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IDFIMH

or a Brighton supporter

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Well that went well

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IDFIMH