JUST DESERTS


FINE FOR ABERDEEN MAN WHO PUNCHED CABBIE 12 TIMES AND SMASHED CAR WITH FIRE EXTINGUISHER


A Deacon Blue fan flew into a violent rage and punched a cabbie during a brawl after a gig. Steven Beattie riled a taxi driver who waited more than 20 minutes for the 50-year-old and his partner outside McDonald’s in Aberdeen. Last October the pair demanded a long stop at the fast food branch leading the driver to push for payment. But Beattie became aggressive and began throwing punches at the cabbie who then grabbed a fire extinguisher from


the restaurant and smashed the car. Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard how the driver saw Beattie running towards him shouting “come on, you f****** b******, I’ll have you now” Beattie then punched the driver 12 times to the head, leading him to fall to the ground. The couple went back inside the restaurant and Beattie was arrested a short time later. His victim was left with pain and swelling to his head and minor pain to his elbow after the


windscreen smashed. Beattie, of Kemnay, near Aberdeen, pleaded guilty


to charges of


assault to injury and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. Defence agent Gregor Kelly said Beattie, a first offender, had already paid the taxi driver just over £4,600 to cover the damage and loss of earnings. He said Beattie was “mortified to find himself in court for such a serious matter”. He was ordered to pay a fine of £740.


GANG OF MANCHESTER LADS WHO ROBBED CABBIE AT KNIFEPOINT AND CRASHED CAR LOCKED UP


A cabbie was robbed at knifepoint by a group of masked teenagers during a terrifying attack. Manchester Crown Court heard that around 2am on July 7 last year, a taxi driver picked up Aiden Taylor (right), 18, Connor Fearnley left), 20, and two youths, who were under 18. They said they didn’t have enough cash for the trip, so they went to a petrol station. Taylor got out of the front passenger seat and walked to the driver’s side of the car. The others, who were wearing balaclavas, got out of the vehicle. One of the youths pulled out a large kitchen knife from his rucksack and pointed it towards the driver. “You told him to get out of the car and give you the key,” Judge Timothy Smith said. “You then got into the car and drove off.” Taylor drove the taxi, despite being ‘highly intoxicated’. A high-


PHTM MARCH 2024


speed police chase ended when the car crashed and they were all arrested.


“In that moment I felt very scared,” the driver said in a statement. “My leg was shaking, I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I just needed to


save my life.


Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.” At around 6.30pm on October 12, a man was riding home from work on an e-scooter. Taylor and Warren Mandarin, 18, set upon him and grabbed the scooter. A blade - described by a witness as a ‘large machete’ - was then pulled out.


When Mandarin was later arrested, police found the knife in his bedroom. “The incident has frightened me,” the victim said in a statement. “I do not feel safe in the area where I live. I’m scared to go out and I’m scared to travel to and from work.” Taylor was locked up in a young offender institution for three years. Fearnley was locked up in a young offender institution for three years and five months. Mandarin was locked up in a young offender institution for two years and two months. The youths were made the subjects of two-year rehabilitation orders, with unpaid work require- ments.


Judge Smith told the gang: “The carrying and use of knives is regrettably only too common. There is a risk of danger to others, of causing serious and fatal injuries.”


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