UNJUST DESERTS
FIFE MAN WHO PINNED FEMALE CABBIE BY SEATBELT AND PUT HAND UP HER SKIRT ESCAPES JAIL
A Leven man who pinned a female cabbie by her seatbelt before leaning over the back seat and putting his hand up her skirt has narrowly escaped jail. Graham Hay was instead placed on a curfew after being convicted of the July 2021 attack. The 58-year- old was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years. Sheriff John MacRitchie, who found the pervert guilty after a trial, said the incident was part of an escalating pattern of violence towards women. He said: “I have
no doubt
whatsoever that the taxi driver was assaulted by you. You are in self- denial and this was, as set out in the reports, due to your alcohol
consumption. “This is a particularly serious matter, having touched your victim’s thigh under her skirt.
This
was unwanted attention from you. You have an appalling history of domestic violence. This is escalat- ing violence towards females.” He said Hay was treading a “fine line” towards a custodial sentence and any further offences could see him locked up. The court had previously heard how that after being taken from Leven to his partner’s home in Dysart, Hay pounced from the
back seat after paying the driver, trying to lick and kiss her while she was restrained. The predator fled after the woman received a phone call but left his phone in the taxi by mistake. At his Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court trial, Hay claimed the driver had tried to kiss him while stuck in her seatbelt but was found guilty of sexual assault. The sheriff said: “I didn’t find the accused remotely credible or reliable.” Hay must remain within his home between 6.30pm and 6.30am for the next 180 days. He was also placed on an 18-month supervision order with several conditions, including informing social workers of all relationships.
MIDDLESBROUGH YOUTHS WHO ROBBED CABBIE AT KNIFEPOINT WALK FREE FROM COURT
A pair of youths who carried out a knifepoint robbery of a taxi driver have walked free from court after turning their lives around since committing the offence. Linden Hughf and Macauley Charlton lured the driver to a housing estate before one climbed in the back of the cab and the other brandished a weapon and demanded his mobile phone, cash and car keys. The pair, both now 20, were teenagers at the time of the offence almost three years ago, got ‘more than they bargained for’ when the driver fought back, Teesside Crown Court heard. Uzma Khan, prosecuting, said Charlton lunged at the driver with
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a weapon in his hand but the victim managed to deliver several blows
to his attacker while
suffering injuries to his left hand caused by the slashing blade. Hughf grabbed the driver’s money bag, mobile phone and car keys, while his accomplice was attacking their target. The pair were later arrested by police after they traced the mobile phone call used to lure the taxi in Middlesbrough. A screwdriver was also seized from the defendants. In a victim impact statement, the taxi driver said his earnings had been impacted as a result of the robbery as he no longer felt safe working at night and has been forced to quit college as well.
Hughf and Charlton, both from Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to the robbery which took place on January 16, 2020. Judge James Brown accounted for the fact they were teenagers at the time of the offence and could have been sentenced as juveniles if the case hadn’t been delayed for almost three years. Hughf was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years while Charlton was sentenced to 16 months in custody, again suspended for two years. They were both ordered to pay £250 compensation to the cabbie, carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and attend 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
FEBRUARY 2023 PHTM
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