JUST DESSERTS...
ABERDEEN THUG THREATENED TO STAB TAXI DRIVER WITH SCISSORS FOR JUST £20
A thug has been jailed after holding a pair of scissors to a taxi driver’s neck and threatening to stab him. The driver, 63, was left in tears as Craig Taylor “casually” walked away with his wallet. According to the Evening Express, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told that around 10am on 12 April 2019, the driv- er had just started his shift and was notified of a job under the name Smith. Taylor appeared, got into the front pas- senger seat and asked if the driver had two ‘tenners’. He responded that he had no money, having just started his shift. Taylor then threatened: “give me the money or I’ll stab you”. The driver could see Taylor had a pair of scissors in his hand so he went to press the alarm button on his radio. But Taylor shouted at him not to or he would
stab him and moved the scissors close to
driver’s
neck. The driver tried to escape but Taylor grabbed his shoulder and told him to
get back in the car or he would ‘take the motor’. He then took the cabbie’s wallet from his pocket and walked casually away. Police arrived finding the driver “visibly upset, pale and shaking”. Checks revealed Taylor’s phone had been used to book the taxi and he was arrested later that day. Initially, he was freed due to “insufficient identifica-
ANGLESEY FARMER SKEWERED TAXI WITH TRACTOR IN KEBAB ROW
A farmer who skewered a taxi on a tractor after a fight with a cabbie over a spilled kebab has been banned from driving. BBC News reports that James Peacock dropped his takeaway in the taxi while coming back from a night out in Ban- gor in March. Mold Crown Court heard how after a confrontation with the driver, Peacock went home, got his tractor and speared the taxi with its forks. Peacock, from Anglesey, was banned from driving for 12 months. The 23-year-old, who admitted driving the tractor dangerously, was also hand- ed a four month suspended sentence and ordered to undertake 180 hours of unpaid work. Recorder Simon Mills told Peacock: “You had any number of opportunities to think ‘what on Earth am I doing’, but you carried on.” The court heard how taxi driver Paul
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McKeown had accused Peacock of throwing a kebab at him. But the defendant maintained Mr McKeown had hit him with a bat or truncheon, a claim which he denied. The farmer said he had been “very scared”, walked home and jumped in the tractor to drive “to talk to him”. A previous hearing was told how the hay bale forks pierced the driver’s door and the car was lifted up to 10ft into the air, before it was dropped. Judge Mills said the incident was a case of “serious and dangerous negligence rather than using a vehicle as a weapon”.
tion”, but on April 16 the taxi driver dis- covered the scissors in his car and Taylor’s DNA was found on them. Taylor from Aberdeen, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault and robbery. Sheriff William Summers told Taylor: “This was plainly a terrifying incident for the driver and it may well have had life- changing consequences for him. “It’s an offence of such gravity that, in my assessment, only a custodial sen- tence is appropriate.” He ordered Taylor to be jailed for two years, six months.
MAN TRIED TO
STRANGLE DERRY TAXI DRIVER
A man appeared in court on 8 Decem- ber accused of trying “to strangle a taxi driver”, a court has heard. BelfastLive reports that Joe Harkin, 58, from Derry was remanded in custody at the Magistrate’s Court in Derry. A police officer told the District Judge that shortly before midnight on Sunday 6 December the taxi driver collected the defendant from Circular Road, close to the defendant’s home. On arrival the defendant refused to leave the taxi and when he eventually got out, he allegedly punched the driv- er to the head knocking him to the ground and continued punching him. He then tried to strangle him using the driver’s lanyard but a member of the public intervened to help the taxi driver. Opposing bail, the police officer said "police would not be happy with him being in the community as we believe he will not abide by any bail condi- tions”. Refusing bail, the Judge said he would be concerned for the safety of the public if the defendant was released on bail. “He is not able to behave in a manner safe for himself and safe for members of the community”, the District Judge said.
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