Woman took keys from drunken Sunderland taxi driver's car in bold move to keep others safehttps://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/cri ... fe-4748949A driver took car keys from a drunken taxi driver and stood her ground as he lay siege to her car.
Panicked and lost Catherine Millington fled to her car and locked herself inside as dad Magdy Mohammad, 41, banged on her window and swore.
In recordings played to magistrates, she was heard desperately trying to describe her location to police as Mohammad stalked around outside.
Unaware of her location in Hylton Lane, Town End Farm, she told call handlers, “He’s trying to get into my car, he’s trying to get into my car”.
And in a second call requesting help, she added, “He’s back, he’s back. Where are they? He’s back. How long are they going to be? He wants his keys.”
Minutes earlier she had watched Mohammad swerve across roads for a mile while almost three times the limit at 6.25am on Tuesday, February 20.
When Mohammad, of Rutherford Square, Downhill, brought his Skoda to a stop at traffic lights, she took his keys after spotting a bottle of booze between his legs.
Prosecutor Estelle Chambers said the Sudanese national’s actions instilled fear and he also swore when his request for his keys was refused.
At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, he pleaded guilty to two counts of drink driving but denied a charge of intentionally behaving in a threatening manner.
But the case against him was proven after trial, with magistrates saying Ms Millington’s evidence was “clear, consistent and reliable” – and some of his was not.
Giving evidence, Ms Millington said she was behind Mohammad’s vehicle as she drove to collect a friend for work.
She described his car as repeatedly swerving and hitting a curb and there being an “intense” smell of alcohol when his motor stopped, and she peered inside.
When she told Mohammad he was drunk, he said, “I am”, Ms Millington added – and she spotted the bottle of booze.
She dialled 999 but did not know where she was, meaning police could not immediately be dispatched to help.
Ms Millington said: “I was scared. I thought, ‘What have I done?’ I was really frightened.”
Giving evidence in his defence, Mohammed insisted he had approached her car only once and had not been angry.
When questioned by defence solicitor, Alastair Naismith, he claimed he had politely knocked on her passenger side window – and then walked away.
Mohammed was breath tested and gave a reading for alcohol of 99mcg. The legal limit is 35mcg.
He was also caught drink driving in the same car in Adelaide Terrace, Benwell, Newcastle, on Tuesday, January 2, giving a reading for alcohol in breath of 62mcg.
Magistrates banned him from driving for 36 months and imposed a 12-month community order, with 15 rehabilitation days and 100 hours of unpaid work.
They also imposed 120 days of monitored alcohol abstinence and ordered him to pay Ms Millington £100 compensation, with £320 court costs.
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