Chapter and verse here
Army officer grabbed driver by the throat and threatened to kill him, but only a financial penalty??
Not sure how the army will view this in terms of her career. And, to be honest, not sure how I'd view it in those terms either...
'I'm in the Army, I will f***ing kill you' - Army major grabbed taxi driver's neck in drunken attack as he drove her homehttps://www.expressandstar.com/news/202 ... -her-home/A senior military officer grabbed a taxi driver around the neck and threatened to kill him in a terrifying, drunken assault as he tried to drive her home.Major Lianne Robinson, who is 38, had been drinking for several hours at a wedding celebration before getting in a taxi to take her home to Shifnal, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on Thursday.
The driver picked up Robinson's fare near Swynnerton, Staffordshire, at about 12.30am on June 9 this year, prosecutor Suzanne Francis told the court.
"She was clearly extremely intoxicated and her friends... wanted to accompany her, but she insisted on travelling alone. She entered the taxi and sat behind [the driver] and asked to be taken to Shifnal."
The route he took, using the A41, was the correct one, the prosecutor said, but at a point in the journey near Newport, Robinson became verbally hostile and repeatedly told him to "turn around right now".
"She became very abusive and grabbed him from behind," Miss Francis said. She grabbed hold of his neck while he was still driving, leaving him with red marks.
The prosecutor showed the court a dashcam video which captured audio of Robinson's frightening tirade, and showed the driver was taking the correct route towards Shifnal.
Over about four and a half minutes she could be heard saying "I'm in the Army, I will f***ing kill you," repeatedly telling him to turn around "right now" and calling him a "f***ing c***".
The terrified driver had noticed Robinson was wearing formal military 'mess' wear and genuinely feared that she was "capable of killing him", Miss Francis told the court.
He phoned his office, who called the police, and he drove to the taxi firm's office to wait for officers there.
"Once [Robinson] arrives at the taxi office, she sits compliantly in the back of the car and waits for the police to arrive," Miss Francis said.
Robinson was arrested and in interviews said she had no recollection of the incident due to the amount of alcohol she had drunk. She told officers she had been drinking from 2pm the previous afternoon.
Miss Francis read a statement from the taxi driver detailing the impact Robinson's actions have had on his career and his life.
He said he had cut down his hours at work and begun avoiding taking late-night fares, out of fear of meeting drunk customers.
He also said he had started talking to his customers less, and felt "a fear inside" of what they might do to him "if they don't like [him]".
"She [Robinson] said she was in the military and could kill me, and I worry about this," the statement said.
"My wife has noticed a change in my behaviour.
"I don't feel safe working in my own car now."
Robinson pleaded guilty in November to a single count of battery, and was summoned to Shrewsbury on Thursday to be sentenced.
Mitigating for Robinson, Debra White said the defendant was "mortified by her behaviour" on the night and "desperately sorry" for the impact it had on the driver.
She had no previous convictions and had led an "exemplary" career in the Army for many years, Miss White said.
At the time of the attack on the driver she was dealing with a close family member being diagnosed with a serious illness.
Having heard the mitigation, Judge Recorder Richard McConaghy delivered Robinson's sentence.
"Your behaviour in that taxi on June 9 was utterly appalling," he told her.
"[The driver] was simply taking you home as part of his job. No taxi driver should have to put up with the type of behaviour that came from you.
"You put your hands on him from behind in his taxi. Irrespective of anything else, you must appreciate the danger of doing that to a driver while their vehicle is in motion.
"The fact you were drunk makes it worse, not better."
He described her behaviour to the driver as "arrogant" and said: "I'm not surprised that he feared that you would do what you threatened to do.
"You use the word 'mortified'... you should feel ashamed.
"But I take on board that whatever term is used, you clearly show genuine remorse for what took place that evening.
"I've read a lot about you. Your character before this has been described as 'exemplary' and that is an accurate description of what I know about you.
"You have lost that due to the way in which you behaved in June."
He ordered Robinson, of King Edward Close in Calne, Wiltshire, to pay a fine of £1,500 and compensation to the driver of £1,000. She must also pay £250 towards the costs of bringing the case to court.
Before she left the court he told her: "Make sure that you don't behave in this way again."
Miss White told the court that in addition to the criminal conviction and sentence, Robinson will face consequences from the military, ranging from "at the very least a financial burden [to] at the very worst dismissal from the services".
"Because of the position she holds within the British Army, the consequences of what happens in this court will remain with her for a very long time."
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