UNJUST DESERTS
DAD WHO BATTERED PHV DRIVER IN DISGUSTING MANCHESTER ATTACK WALKS FREE FROM COURT
A drunken thug who launched a ‘disgusting’ attack on a PHV driver during a row about the fare has walked free from court. Jermaine Preston, 41, punched, kicked and stamped on his victim - but he was spared jail by a judge who said prison would have a ‘potentially harmful impact’ on the defendant’s five children. Preston had been partying in Manchester city centre when he booked a taxi from Mainline private hire with his partner and another female friend at 6.30am on September 4 to take him back to his home in Radcliffe. Preston, who was drunk and high, sat in the front passenger seat and was ‘repeatedly’ told he could not smoke but the driver allowed him to vape, prosecutor Philip Hall told Manchester Crown Court on 13 December. The defendant agreed there would be an additional fare to drop off one of his female companions first but she had ‘mistakenly believed’ the driver had simply demanded more
money and became
‘aggressive’, the court was told. When the driver stopped his car and demanded his passengers calm down, Preston launched the first of two violent assaults, repeatedly punching his victim who couldn’t protect himself as he was strapped into his seat. The driver released the buckle and fled only for Preston to chase him down and punch him to the back of the head until he fell to the ground. While prone, the driver later told police his assailant repeatedly kicked him ‘like a football’ to his face, head and body
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and stamped on him. Laying face down on the ground, Preston knelt on his victim’s back and rained more punches to the back of the driver’s head, said Mr Hall. Preston then walked back to the taxi and began to search it for valuables. The driver walked back to his vehicle and a second wave of the attack began. Preston punched his victim to the floor once more and ‘straddled him again’ as he aimed more punches to the head, the court was told. It was during this second exchange that Preston himself suffered an injury which left blood coming from a head wound. The court heard a resident was woken by
the taxi driver
‘screaming for help’, and later told police the victim looked ‘really scared’ as he was being pursued. The householder said she saw Preston repeatedly kicking the taxi driver to the stomach while he was on the ground and was ‘surprised’ the victim managed to get up. The witness told detectives the attack
was ‘horrendous and
disgusting to watch’. Police were called and arrested Preston at the scene. He told officers he had been attacked first. He handed the driver’s phone which he had stolen to officers and later, while being treated for his own injuries in hospital, he was also found to have the driver’s wallet, bank card and £45 cash. The driver was taken to hospital and treated for bruises and
soreness to his head and body. A CT scan showed no serious damage. In a victim impact statement, the driver said: “I’ve been a taxi driver for four years. I’ve never experienced such fear and violence in my place of work.” He said he accepted ‘a clear risk’ picking up fares who were drunk or high on drugs. “However, when I come to work I do not expect to be put in fear of my life and losing my livelihood.” The court heard Preston had 13 sets of convictions for 28 offences including including assault. Ronan Maguire, defending, said it was his client’s first conviction since 2013 as he urged the judge to suspend any prison sentence as his client was ‘heavily involved’ in the care of his five children. Judge Timothy Smith told the defendant: “No taxi driver deserves to be treated in this way. They are providing a public service and to that extent they need to be protected from those who would threaten violence on them.” He said the crime was aggravated by his ‘drinking to excess’ and ‘substance abuse’ on the night. But he said ‘on balance’ an immediate term of imprisonment was not required, noting the defendant had a number of children living in ‘somewhat difficult circumstances’, saying: “I’m satisfied that the imposition of an immediate custodial sentence would have an immediate and potentially harmful upon them. Preston, of Radcliffe was handed a 16-month prison sentence sus- pended for 18 months. He had earlier admitted assault and theft.
JANUARY 2023 PHTM
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