Taxi Driver Online

Was just thinking in that other thread that it's not often the justice of the peace courts in Scotland are mentioned in articles, and along one comes

Not sure why that is, but I'd guess there's a lower threshold in terms of seriousness of the crimes heard there, as compared to the magistrates' court equivalents down south - most taxi related violence and similar cases seem to be heard at the sheriff courts here, which are roughly the equivalent of the crown courts.

And if you appeal a licensing decision up here I think it goes straight to the sheriff court, as opposed to the magistrates' down south

Anyway, this is in the area I grew up in, and one of my regular stomping grounds when I was still pubbing and clubbing and the like. And it's not far from Dundee, hence the reference to the recent article at the end of this piece


Raging passenger punched and booted taxi after Arbroath fare squabble

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/co ... oath-taxi/

Martin Greer has been ordered to reimburse to Arbroath Taxis for the £600 damage.

https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... 37x564.jpg
Image: DC Thomson/The Courier

A violent Arbroath drunk caused £600 worth of damage to a taxi he punched and kicked in a squabble about paying for a lift home from the pub.

Martin Greer was ordered to pay compensation to Arbroath Taxis after battering one of the company’s cars on February 7 last year.

Greer, who is currently serving a community sentence after breaking his partner’s nose in a drunken rage, previously admitted vandalising the white Dacia in which he had been driven home from the town’s Lorne Bar to Leonard Street.

Greer was sentenced at Forfar Justice of the Peace Court on Friday, the day before his 36th birthday, but was not present due to illness.

Drunken outburst

Fiscal depute Sarah High said: “There was an argument between the complainer and the accused in relation to payment of a taxi fare.

“The accused then became angry and began to punch and kick the taxi’s passenger door. That caused damage to the taxi.”

Defending, solicitor Keith Sym said: “He’s not a stranger to the courts and is currently subject to a community payback order.

“Mr Greer has had a problem with alcohol for some time.

“On the night in question, he’d been picked up from a public house.

“He got out of the vehicle and appeared not to have been able to pay for the fare. He’s taken it out on the vehicle which is completely unacceptable.

“On the night in question, he’d taken too much drink.

“Taxi drivers are not in the business of charging fares for something that they haven’t done. He’s going to have to pay compensation.”

Greer, of Glenesk Avenue in Arbroath, was ordered to pay £600 to the taxi firm at £20 a week – double the instalment he offered.

JP Allan Robertson said: “I feel that £10 per fortnight is slightly low.

“(£20 per fortnight) may have the benefit of not spending so much on alcohol as well if he keeps up with payments.”

More compensation

In 2023, Greer was ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation to his partner after he came home drunk and broke her nose.

The woman was left with a mouth full of blood and lasting breathing difficulties in January 2022.

Greer was also sentenced to 270 hours unpaid work and ordered to complete a programme aimed at rehabilitating domestic offenders.

Last month, The Courier told the story of a Dundee taxi driver “too scared to work weekends” due to the abuse perpetrated by drunken passengers.

Spot the deliberate mistake - or am I missing something?

Usual ruck over a fare, though - same old, same old...

According to Google it's a half-mile walk, and slightly further by car. Maybe he'll walk next time

Interesting.

English and Welsh JPs can issue unlimited fines and sentence up to 12 months in the Adult courts and 24 months in the Youth courts.

There is a plan, that may or may not come about, to sit E&W JPs in Crown Courts with a judge to decide all cases up to 24 months.

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IDFIMH

Never really thought about it, to be honest, but I'd guess our justice of the peace courts are a bit less important in the criminal court structure than the magistrates' courts are in England

(And which is probably why we never read about them much on here - the cases they deal with will tend to be very minor.)

Which is kind of predictable, I suppose, since roughly speaking in Scotland there are three tiers in the criminal court system (ignoring appeals).

So we've got:

- justice of the peace courts
- sheriff courts
- high court

In England that would roughly be covered by just:

- magistrates' courts
- crown courts

So our sheriff courts will deal with some cases that the magistrates' in England deal with, and our high court will deal with some of the more serious cases that would be dealt with by the crown court in England, like the recent Dundee taxi driver murder...

(Scotland's high courts in the criminal court structure shouldn't of course be confused with England's high courts, which deal only with civil rather than criminal law.)