JUST DESSERTS
LONG JAIL SENTENCES FOR THUGS WHO STRANGLED ESSEX CABBIE WITH PHONE CHARGER
A cabbie was strangled with a phone charger while being branded a paedophile by two thugs who threatened to kill him. Kevin Hutchinson, 25, from Wick- ford and Roy O’Donoghue, 34, from Westcliff targeted the driver in Wickford at 2.45am on 12 September last year. According to the Clacton Gazette, on 9 February at Basil- don Crown Court, Hutchinson was sentenced to ten years in prison while O’Donoghue was handed an 11 year and four month sentence. The driver was left with bruising and swelling to his face and lost two teeth in the attack while the pair stole his phone. Judge Samantha Leigh said both were trying to hide behind an excuse of being drunk. She said: “This was a totally unprovoked attack and you were calling him a paedophile and saying you would kill him. “O’Donoghue, you tried to strangle him and he was punched repeatedly. He was vulnerable and suffered physical, mental and financial loss. You restrained the driver and this was not
Kevin Hutchinson
a fleeting attack and went on for a good few minutes.” Prosecuting Katie Mustard revealed the victim has been unable to work since the violent attack.
Roy O’Donoghue
She said: “He has difficulties sleeping and finds it hard to trust people and it’s had an impact on the whole family. He also now fears going out at a night.” Mitigating for O’Donoghue Steven Levy, insisted that his
client was disgusted at his actions. He said: “He was given eight years in prison for grevious bodily harm with intent and was released and things were going well and he started to turn his life around He suffered injuries to his back and was stabbed in a previous incident and was self medicating for the pain with alcohol.” Sean Smith, mitigating for Hutchinson in court, said: “He’s shown genuine remorse in a series of letters and took positive steps while in custody. “He has no previous convictions of this seriousness and when sober he is not a bad person.”
BELFAST TAXI CUSTOMER WHO TORE DOWN COVID SCREEN AND ASSAULTED DRIVER JAILED
A taxi customer who tore down a Covid screen and assault- ed the driver after being asked to stop smoking has been jailed for four months. According to BelfastLive, Belfast Magistrates' Court also heard that Robin Fuller, 41, produced a screwdriver and tried to punch the victim as he was taking him to pick up garden- ing supplies.
Fuller pleaded guilty to common assault, two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in public, criminal damage and making off without payment. Prosecutors said the defendant became violent after being picked up at his accommodation in West Belfast, on October 16 last year. During a trip to B&Q in Newtownabbey, he ignored repeated requests to stop smoking in the back of the taxi, the court was told. The driver pulled over on the Antrim Road and asked Fuller to get out, at which point he offered £10 towards the £27.30 fare. “He went on to rip down the Perspex Covid screen and cut
40
his hand with a screwdriver,” a Crown lawyer said. “The defendant then got out of the taxi, walked round to the driver’s door which he opened and tried to punch the injured party to the head.” Fuller left the scene, but was arrested nearby by police who searched him and recovered a pair of scissors and the handle of a screwdriver. The other part of the tool was located in the back of the taxi. Defence solicitor Gordon Laird told the court Fuller had wanted to go to B&Q due to his job at the time as a church gardener. According to Mr Laird the taxi driver pulled in at a darkened area close to Belfast Zoo following a “breakdown in communication”. “My client isn’t from Belfast, didn’t know where he was, and he simply had a panic attack,” the lawyer said. “He tried to get out of the taxi, tried to roll the windows down, tried to open the doors. He felt he had no other option but to try to get out of the taxi via the Covid screen to get into the front and out that way.”
MARCH 2021
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