Taxi Driver Online

For what it's worth, a bit more detail here on the attack on Miss McFadyen. Rest of this article is a repeat of the attack on the witness who was left scarred and with tinnitus, so haven't included that.

The reports are from both the morning and evening papers in Dundee, which often use the same material, but here they seem to be using different reporters. So trying to exclude repetition wherever possible, and stuff that's not really to do with the rank attack.

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




Also this about the injuries to the deceased:

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




But from the taxi angle this is the most interesting stuff. Confirms, as I suggested yesterday, that the taxi joined the rank from the wrong direction rather than doing a U-turn.

Involvement ‘not needed’: Defence claims Brian Fox didn’t need to get involved

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/i ... -involved/

A man allegedly killed by two men at a taxi rank on New Year’s Day “did not need to get involved” in a commotion caused by a taxi’s “erratic” driving, a court has been told.

Brian Fox, 62, died in the early hours of January 1 this year following an incident in Dundee’s Nethergate.

Wes Reid, 20, and Adam Valentine, 25, are on trial charged with his culpable homicide, along with a litany of other offences.

Earlier in proceedings, the trial at the High Court in Edinburgh had been shown CCTV footage of the incident, at around 1.10am, which begins with a taxi pulling out of Union Street and entering the taxi rank from the wrong direction, almost striking people standing in the roadway.

Cross-examining Detective Sergeant Ian Borthwick, who reviewed the footage in the case, Donald Findlay QC, for Reid, suggested “things kicked off” at the taxi rank because of the “dangerous manoeuvre”.

Mr Findlay said: “What you have seen is: a taxi turns left out of Union Street and drives up the Nethergate the wrong way. There’s a road traffic offence for a start.

“It then swings into the taxi rank and appears to nearly hit them.

“And it all kicks off. And it kicks off because of what this taxi did.

“The real trouble seems to be caused by dangerous driving by a taxi driver which provokes an angry response,” Mr Findlay concluded.

“I agree,” Mr Borthwick said.

Mr Findlay then described how Mr Fox appears to enter the scene from Union Street and “got involved” in the altercation unfolding in the taxi rank.

The QC added: “What we don’t know is what, if anything, Mr Fox said to the group. You can’t tell from the camera what was going through his mind, what, if anything, he said. This had nothing to do with him and he did not need to get involved with that at all.”

The trial, before Lord Beckett, continues.

Complete and utter nonsense. The Nethergate isn't a one-way street. (Unless there was some kind of temporary restriction at the time, which isn't suggested by the photographs of the crime scene, nor is there any (reported) mention at the trial that any temporary restriction was in place.



On the other hand, was it dangerous of the driver to approach the rank in the wrong direction rather than doing a U-turn?

Don't know for sure, and would really need to see the CCTV footage. But often it's safer to do that kind of thing rather than a U-turn. And chances are that once the passengers were on board they'd be going in the opposite direction if the taxi had U-turned - suspect most fares from here go in the opposite direction from the rank.

So probably avoiding two U-turns by joining the rank in the wrong direction?

Given that there were obviously people standing around in the road and/or moving around, the driver's actions may in fact have been the safer option.

But it all depends on other traffic etc. When I worked this rank back in the day there were building works opposite which meant you couldn't actually do a U-turn from the rank - it required a three-point turn.

To be fair, it's the defence QC's job to shift the blame, and if the driver had U-turned he would have probably been accused similarly, because it sounds like it was difficult for him to get on the rank from any direction because of people on the road, which is then blamed on the driver. Of course, as we all know if you wanted to avoid an element of danger because of people on the road then you wouldn't drive at all at that time of night.



But the detective sergeant didn't have to agree with the defence QC as regards all this, particularly the point about the HCD driving the wrong-way up a one-way street, which is simply incorrect.

Perhaps demonstrates that the DS doesn't know the locality, so not really able to properly assess the taxi's movements?

That's Union Street opposite where the furthest away police car is. Obviously the taxi driver would have driven towards the rank, and then faced with the decision as regards whether to U-turn or join the rank in the 'wrong' direction.

But nothing wrong with driving out of Union Street and then towards the rank. It's *not* a one-way street as claimed by the defence QC.

Hope this StreetView link works better than yesterday's, but this would roughly be the view faced by the taxi driver when he got to the top of Union Street. Of course rather than a queue of taxis there would have been a queue of people, roughly starting at about the lamppost.

Don't know if there were any vehicles parked opposite the rank at the time, but if so that might have made a U-turn physically impossible.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.45936 ... 312!8i6656

Note too that this stretch of road isn't particularly busy at that time of night. In fact when the driver arrived at the top of Union Street I wouldn't be surprised if there were *zero* other vehicles on the maybe three hundred yard stretch of road visible to the driver to left and right.

Nothing about the taxi dimension this morning, but this is part of the Courier's piece first, and all of the Evening Telegraph's article below that.

Mostly about the defence QC trying to shift the blame for the death from the defendants, eg by suggesting:

- it wasn't a punch that caused the deceased to fall over;

- it was a push rather than a punch that caused the deceased to fall;

- the deceased's inebriation was why he didn't break his fall;


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




Witnesses are challenged over ‘punch’ on night of Brian Fox’s death

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/w ... oxs-death/

A lawyer acting for a man accused of killing a 62-year-old in a taxi rank scrap has challenged witnesses’ accounts that the man was “punched” before he fell to the ground.

Giving evidence to a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, Carlotta Canavesio, Calum Heggie and Matthew Wallace-Cookson each independently said they had seen a man “punch” Brian Fox on the Nethergate on January 1.

Mr Fox died after falling to the ground and hitting his head. Wes Reid, 20, of Newport, and Adam Valentine, 25, of HMP Perth, deny a charge of culpable homicide.

The trial, conducted under Lord Beckett, heard from the three on Monday, each of whom had been in the vicinity of the Nethergate when the incident occurred.

Miss Canavesio, a 22-year-old commis chef, had been out for a walk with a friend from Italy when she came upon the scene.

“We could see there was an argument happening by the taxi rank,” she told the court.

Asked by advocate depute Mark McGuire if she had seen anyone on the ground, she replied: “Two women and a man.” She added: “The man fell in the space of the taxi rank – he was punched and fell down. I saw that.

“He grabbed a guy by the shoulder to pull him away from this and then this guy turned and punched him.”

Mr McGuire added: “Did you see him make contact with the man who punched him?”

Ms Canavesio responded: “Yes. He was punched and he fell down and when he was down the guy reached out to punch him again. I think it was the same (person), pretty sure.”

However, advocate Donald Findlay QC, for Reid, challenged her on her police statement, in which she said she had seen an individual “push or punch” Mr Fox. She tried to clarify that she meant a “push and a punch”.

Mr Findlay said: “Why (have you changed from) push to punch to push and punch?”

The commis chef said: “It was push and then punch.”

Calum Heggie, a 22-year-old from Cupar, said Mr Fox had been “struck and fell to the ground – punched”. Mr Heggie witnessed the scene from a takeaway on the other side of the road towards the West Marketgait.

When asked by Mr McGuire how certain he was, Mr Heggie replied: “We saw a punch land on the upper half of his body.”

Asked if there had been anything obstructing his view, Mr Heggie, who admitted to drinking half a bottle of vodka in the Carbon nightclub in the hours beforehand, said: “No.”

Mr Findlay challenged the witness, saying: “You saw a man go backwards and land on the ground. An explanation for that would be that there was some kind of propulsion that caused him to stumble backwards.

“Did you see a hand make contact with him or think that is what you must have seen?”

Mr Heggie replied: “I saw some sort of arm at him.”

Mr Findlay said: “From that distance, and with half a bottle of vodka inside you, you can’t have seen from that distance.”

The 22-year-old said: “No.”

Mr Heggie’s friend, Matthew Wallace-Cookson, also 22, was also challenged on his assertion that he had seen Mr Fox “struck with a punch – once”.

Mr Findlay said: “Explain to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury how you saw a clenched fist.”

Mr Wallace-Cookson, of Cupar, replied: “It’s what it looked like. That’s what I saw.”

The trial continues.

So the more minor charges against the pair have all been dropped


Man tells jury he heard Brian Fox’s final words

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/m ... nal-words/


Wes Reid (Image: Ciaran Donnelly/Evening Telegraph)

A court has heard a 62-year-old man told a crowd in a taxi rank bust up to “calm down” moments before he suffered a fatal head injury.

Gordon Floyd told jurors he had seen Brian Fox walk into the road where two girls were fighting before he was hit and fell backwards, hitting his head on the roadway.

Wes Reid, 20, of Tayport, and Adam Valentine, 25, a prisoner at HMP Perth, deny killing the 62-year-old on the Nethergate in the early hours of January 1.

Mr Floyd, 52, was asked by prosecutor Mark McGuire what he had seen.

He said: “He (Fox) was walking in the road (toward) two girls that were fighting in the road.

“I saw one guy punch the girl, in the stomach.”

Mr McGuire asked: “As the man walked towards those people how long was that before he ended up on his back?”

Mr Floyd replied: “A matter of seconds.”

The prosecutor then asked if Mr Floyd had heard Mr Fox say anything.

The 52-year-old replied: “Yes. I heard him say ‘calm down’.

“One of the people ran towards him and hit him, in the body.

“The boy fell to the ground and that’s when I heard the ‘crack’.”

Asked if he had heard Mr Fox say anything else before he was hit, Mr Floyd said: “No – just to calm down.”

Donald Findlay QC, for Reid, challenged the witness on whether he saw “a young man going from the kerb towards the crowd, tentatively going towards the crowd and then people coming out from the group towards him.”

Mr Floyd said: “No.”

Prosecutors have dropped all but two charges against Reid and Valentine.

The pair still face the joint charge of culpable homicide, while Valentine faces a charge of assaulting Sandra Jean Baird to her severe injury and danger to life. They deny the charges.

Reid has also filed a special defence of self-defence, in that he “struck out with a single blow in self-defence” in the belief he was about to be attacked by Mr Fox.

Accused pleads guilty to assaulting man who later died after Dundee taxi rank row

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/a ... -rank-row/

A man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a 62-year-old man who later died following a taxi rank fracas on New Year’s Day.

Adam Valentine, 25, a prisoner at HMP Perth, has admitted an amended charge of assaulting Brian Fox by punching him on the body in the Nethergate in the early hours of January 1.

Wes Reid, 20, of Tayport, still faces a charge of culpable homicide in that he allegedly punched Mr Fox in the head, causing him to strike his head on the ground, killing him.

The jury previously heard the moments that led up to the incident in the taxi rank on New Year’s Day.

Valentine also still faces a charge of assaulting Sandra Jean Baird, pushing her on the body and causing her to strike her head on the ground and whereby she was rendered unconscious, all to her severe injury and danger to her life.

Judge Lord Beckett opted to defer passing sentence on Valentine’s guilty plea until the conclusion of the trial, which is continuing to be heard at the High Court in Edinburgh.

So all this means that the charges in relation to Amy McFadyen (as highlighted above) have all been dropped?

And the assault charges in relation to Kenneth Smith Simpson, Katie Elise Muir and Alexander Ross Bowman have also been dropped, so only the assault against Sandra Baird remains against Valentine?

And of course, the culpable homicide charge against Wes Reid still stands

The 'other' that Valentine was accused of acting with is presumably the female who was also charged in connection with the incident.

So does that the fact that these charges against Valentine have been dropped have any bearing on the female, whose consequences in relation to the incident we don't know about. And, which Sussex said, is presumably being withheld from the jury so as not to influence them?

What we don't know is if witnesses haven't turned up, or have said they aren't going to give evidence.

We also don't know if the change of plea for the one charge was part of an agreed plea.

_________________
IDFIMH

Presumably the taxi driver was one of the victims in the now dropped assault charges?

The evidence seemed pretty compelling in that regard, at least as portrayed in the earlier reports

First part here rehashes Valentine's guilty plea.

Also more details of West's defence, and the prosecution's closing speech.


Man accused of killing Brian Fox on Hogmanay pleads guilty to lesser charge of assault

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

One of the men accused of killing Brian Fox during a brawl at a Dundee taxi rank just hours into the new year has pled guilty to a lesser charge of assault.

Adam Valentine, 25, who was accused of killing the 62-year-old on Hogmanay at the Nethergate taxi rank, has now admitted punching him while he lay unconscious on the road. He still denies causing his death.

The other accused, 20-year-old Wes Reid, is charged with culpable homicide by delivering the first punch, causing Mr Fox to strike his head on the ground, killing him.

Reid denies the charge and claimed in police interview tapes played at Edinburgh High Court on Wednesday, he thought Mr Fox “was going to punch” him first.

The court had previously heard a large scuffle had erupted at the city centre Nethergate taxi rank in the early hours before Mr Fox was hit and fell onto the road, later dying in hospital.

The court also heard 64-year-old Sandra Reid had suffered an injury during the incident.

Valentine is accused of pushing her, causing her to strike her head on the ground rendering her unconscious, all to her severe injury and to the danger of her life.

On Wednesday, the jury was shown three police interview videos conducted by Police Scotland CID officers with Reid in the days after the incident.

In the videos, Reid, of Newport Road, Tayport, admits he threw one punch but claims he feared being attacked after Mr Fox walked towards him.

He said: “I thought he was going to punch me so I punched him. I hit him one time with my right hand and he hit the ground.”

When asked by officers how he felt to hear Mr Fox had died, Reid replied: “Extremely bad. Awful.”

Another witness, Gordon Floyd, who was waiting on a taxi at the time, told the court he saw Mr Fox approach the group and say “calm down”.

Day five of the trial saw the Crown close its case against Reid and Valentine before Advocate Depute Mark McGuire delivered his closing speech.

He urged the jury to convict both Reid and Valentine.

He said Mr Fox had attempted to diffuse the situation but was the victim of an “unprovoked attack”.

He said the jury would be entitled to conclude Reid’s claim of self-defence did not tally with that heard in evidence throughout the trial.

He said: “It was the last New Year Brian Fox was to ever see.

“Reid had no reason to fear an imminent attack. Mr Fox posed no threat to anyone whatsoever.

“He tried to help, to try and diffuse the situation. He tried to get everyone to calm down.

“When Mr Reid hit him it was not an act of self-defence. He assaulted him and killed him.”

He added that, like Mr Fox, Sandra Baird was left unconscious on the ground in an attack by Valentine.

He said: “The potential of striking one’s head on the ground has been laid bare by the death of Brian Fox.

“Mr Valentine, I submit to you, endangered her life.”

A number of charges of assault facing Valentine, of HMP Perth, had been withdrawn earlier in the day.

The trial, before Lord Beckett continues.

Admitted to punching the deceased while lying unconscious - obviously still a pretty serious assault.



And he's still charged with this

Defence tell jury to acquit man accused of killing Brian Fox

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/d ... brian-fox/

Advocates defending men accused of culpable homicide and assault in a New Year’s Day taxi brawl have made their closing remarks ahead of the jury retiring.

Wes Reid, 20, of Tayport, is accused of killing Brian Fox by punching him in the head, causing him to strike his head on the ground.

Reid has filed a special defence, claiming he believed he was going to be hit by Mr Fox and struck out once in self-defence.

Adam Valentine, 25, a prisoner at HMP Perth, is accused of assaulting Sandra Jean Baird to her severe injury and danger to her life.

Both offences are alleged to have taken place in the early hours of January 1 this year in the Nethergate.

Defence lawyers made their closing statements at the High Court in Edinburgh this morning.

Mark Stewart QC, for Valentine, suggested to jurors there was “doubt” over whether Valentine had deliberately pushed Mrs Baird.

“The consequences of the evidence do not determine the cause of the incident,” he said.

“In trying to prove this charge – proof beyond reasonable doubt – the Crown require to demonstrate to this high standard the evidence that this was a deliberate push by the accused upon Mrs Baird.

“The question here, ladies and gentlemen, is did Adam Valentine deliberately push this lady or did he collide with her in the course of another struggle and as a result of that knock her over?

“The Crown must prove this was a deliberate act and must provide it in evidence.

“If you were, in the fullness of time, to consider the case and say, ‘Well, Mr Valentine may have pushed this lady’ – what do you do? You acquit Mr Valentine. ‘Might’ is not good enough.

“Or maybe he pushed her? You acquit Mr Valentine. Maybe is not good enough.

“If you say, ‘I think he probably pushed her’ – you acquit him. Probably is not what we are about here.”

Donald Findlay QC, for Reid, made the case that the 20-year-old had always asserted that his actions were in self-defence – and acknowledged the incident had “tragic” consequences.

“What you are being asked to do is take this case as if you were reading a textbook and as if it wasn’t in the real world that these events happened,” Mr Findlay said.

“What have we actually been looking at? About 30 seconds – in reality three and a bit seconds. And that’s ridiculous.

“In reality nobody has a chance to pause or rewind or replay – I urge you to bear that in mind.

“What the Crown says should have happened in those three seconds is that the young man there assesses there is someone in front of him, knows what threat there is, weighs up the balance of what he should do and then run away. (That he should do that) at a time when there is all sorts of things going on about and everyone has had a drink is ridiculous.

“It’s one o’clock in the morning. People have had a drink. People are arguing, pushing, shoving.

“Wes Reid is there. At some point he is confronted by a man, 6ft 2in, and 16 and a half stone and that man has ended up on the ground.

“There is not a scrap of evidence that man (Reid) had a scrap of evil in his heart that night.”

Mr Findlay also refuted claims Reid would have heard Mr Fox’s last words of “calm down” before the fatal incident took place.

“There is not a scrap of evidence that Wes Reid heard that,” the QC added.

“He has said from the very outset what he believed was happening and why he did what he did.

“You will be asked to convict him of culpably killing a human being. You have to be sure that is what you want to do.”

The jury was set to begin considering their verdict this afternoon. The trial, before Lord Beckett, continues.

Obviously this is being decided under Scots law, and the legal definitions and terminology etc are all a bit different, but fundamentally similar in other ways.

But an advocate is the Scots equivalent of a barrister, although the QC designation for senior counsel is broadly similar. I think.