Taxi Driver Online

'Disgraceful' drunk to pay attacked taxi driver £1k

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vw7rqxdr7o

A drunk reveller who punched a taxi driver to the ground in a "disgraceful" and unprovoked attack has been ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation.

Aaron Kendall, 24, had been drinking in Newcastle's Bigg Market when he injured the driver who had stopped to let him use a cash machine, the city's Crown Court heard.

The victim was left with a 1in (3cm)-long scar across his forehead and said the assault had left him afraid at work.

Lorry driver Kendall, from Newcastle, admitted unintentional wounding and was jailed for one year suspended for 18 months.

Kendall was intoxicated when he approached the taxi in the Bigg Market shortly before 03:00 BST on 14 April last year, prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw said.

The driver agreed to take Kendall to Walbottle but they had to stop for the defendant to get cash, the court was told.

While in the car, Kendall asked the driver to "please get me out of town" as he did not feel safe following an argument with someone else, the court heard, with the driver telling him not to worry.

'Gratuitous violence'

The driver got out of his car at the cash machine on George Street to help his passenger, Mr Wardlaw said, but after withdrawing money Kendall turned and punched the man hard in the face knocking him to the ground.

Kendall then swung at the man again but missed before chasing him round the car shouting "come on", the court heard.

The driver managed to escape in his car and returned to the Bigg Market to get medical treatment at an ambulance stationed there.

In a statement read to the court, the driver said he had been unable to work for a week and when he did return, he was afraid of being attacked again.

Recorder Ian Mullarkey said it was an "utterly disgraceful" and "unprovoked" attack using "gratuitous violence" on someone providing a public service .

He said Kendall, who had previous convictions for being drunk and disorderly, "plainly" had a problem of becoming aggressive when drinking.

But he said there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation so the prison term could be suspended, although he warned Kendal he had "come incredibly close" to being jailed.

Kendall, of Kirkwood Drive in Kenton, must also complete 150 hours unpaid work, abide by a three-month curfew between 21:00 an 06:00 and pay the driver £1,000 in compensation at a rate of £100 a month.

here's hoping the compo does get paid.

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

I was slightly dubious about that bit, and regarding why the driver got out of the car to 'help' the perp.

But there's more detail in the Chronicle's version

And it looks more like the perp was trying it on with the cash thing rather than actually needing 'help'. Who'd have expected that?

Driver with no card machine, though. Allegedly

Judge sound particularly unimpressed, though...


Newcastle city centre taxi driver subjected to 'utterly disgraceful' and 'gratuitous' attack

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/no ... r-31203154

Aaron Kendall, of Kenton, carried out a completely unprovoked drunken attack on the cabbie after they stopped at a cash machine

A taxi driver was subjected to an "utterly disgraceful" and "gratuitous" attack by a drunken thug.

The victim was working in Newcastle city centre in the early hours of April 14 last year when he was approached by Aaron Kendall around 2.45am in the Bigg Market. He was intoxicated and arguing with someone then got in the cab and said "please get me out town, I don't feel safe".

He asked to be taken to Walbottle but said he didn't have any cash on him and the cabbie didn't have a card-reading machine. It was agreed they would stop at a cash machine, which they did, on George Street.

There had been no issues between them in the car and they stopped at the cash machine, where Kendall said he didn't have enough money in his account and suggested his girlfriend would pay the fare when they got to Walbottle. However the taxi driver, who had got out of his car, then saw he had withdrawn some cash.

Then, without any provocation and in an attack caught on CCTV, Kendall landed a heavy punch, knocking the cabbie to the ground, where he tried to hit him again but missed. He then shouted "come on, come on" as he chased him around the car before the victim fled back to the Bigg Market to seek medical help from ambulance staff.

He had sustained a 3cm wound to his forehead which was glued shut but he was told he will be left scarred. In a victim impact statement, he said: "Immediately afterwards and for two or three days I felt unsafe and scared to go on jobs.

"I don't understand why I have been randomly attacked while helping vulnerable people and getting them home safely. I was very afraid I was going to be attacked again and I lost a week of money because I didn't work until the following weekend. I'm very upset this has happened to me."

Kendall, 24, of Kirkwood Drive, Kenton, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding and was sentenced to 12 months suspended for 18 months with 150 hours unpaid work, a three month electronically monitored curfew between 9pm and 6am and he must pay £1,000 compensation at £100 a month.

Recorder Ian Mullarkey told him: "Having obtained the cash, you turned and walked towards him and, wholly without provocation or justification, you struck him what must have a hard blow, knocking him to the ground.

"You tried to hit him again while he was on the floor but you missed. He could feel blood pouring from his head. You were determined, if you could, to continue your assault on him.

"This was utterly disgraceful, it was completely unprovoked, gratuitous violence because you were drunk. There was no justification for it and the victim and people like him need protection from people like you when you are drunk.

"This was drink-fuelled violence and an attack on someone providing a public service. You have come incredibly close to going to prison."

The judge rejected claims by Kendall, who lives with his parents, that his drink had been tampered with but acknowledged he was hard-working as an HGV team leader.

Andrew Walker, defending, said: "That ten to 15 seconds of footage shows disgraceful behaviour and the defendant knows it. He has demonstrated a high level of remorse for his behaviour. He is rightly ashamed.

"He is in work and is well thought of. This was out of character behaviour on his part."


Image: Northumbria Police/Newcastle Chronicle