68 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
MARCH 2009 JUST...
COMMUNITY ORDER AND FINES FOR ATTACK ON SWANSEA CABBIE
A drunken couple viciously punched, kicked and stamped on a taxi driver in a row over a £5 fare after he drove them home from a night out. When the couple got out without paying, the driver remonstrated with them and was beaten, magis- trates heard.
Before the court to
admit common assault were 32-year-old Joanne Lloyd, of Manselton, and 26-year- old James Ace, a Swansea man currently living in Aberdeen. Both also admitted making off without paying the fare. Ace was fiåned £1,500 and ordered to pay £70 costs and £150 compensation to Mr
Morgan.
According to the South Wales Evening Post, Lloyd was made sub- ject to a 12-month community order and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work. She wilI have to pay £100 compensation and £70 costs. Neither has any previous con- viction.
SIX AND A HALF YEARS FOR LIVERPOOL GUN THUG
A thug who terrorised a taxi driver with a sawn- off 19th century shotgun has been jailed for six-and-a-half years. Liverpool Crown court heard that Ian Watling, 27, of Venice Street, Everton, had the weapon for protection from cocaine dealers. In the early hours of August 25 he was with a friend and a dog
when he flagged down a cab.
According to the Liver- pool Echo, the driver heard one of them say to the dog: “Go for the gun,” and when he looked in his mirror, he saw Watling had the black single-bore shot- gun. Watling said: Why are you looking at me? Do you have a problem
with me having this gun?”
When he was dropping the pair off Watling told him to wind down the window but he drove off to tell police and Watling was later arrested. Watling pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and making off without paying the taxi fare.
SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR POINTING GUN AT CHELTENHAM DRIVER
A taxi driver was terri- fied when he asked his passenger for a £10 fare and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun, a court heard. As Stewart Wells point- ed the rifle at cabbie Abdul Muhith, he told him he only had £2 to pay the fare.
Mr Muhith accepted the cash and drove hur- riedly away from the scene before calling the police, Gloucester Crown Court heard. Wells, of Cheltenham, pleaded guilty to pos- sessing an imitation rifle with intent to cause fear of violence and having an imitation handgun in a public place.
He had spent the last four and a half months in custody awaiting sen- tence but was allowed free by Recorder Linda Sullivan QC who told him “You need to sort yourself out.”
According to the
Gloucestershire Echo, Crown Prosecutor Lisa Hennessy said that on September 24 last year at 10.15pm, Wells flagged down a police car on Cheltenham High Street and handed over a handgun and holster. Wells told the officer they belonged to a man in the pub and he had taken them off him. An hour later Wells got a cab from the Prome- nade, in Cheltenham, back to his home. When they arrived, the cabbie told Wells the fare was £10. Wells went into his property and then emerged carrying a rifle. The gun was pointed downwards but then Wells raised it and point- ed it at the cabbie and again asked how much the fare was and was given the same answer, said the prosecutor. Wells then said he had £2 which Mr Muhith agreed to take before
leaving and calling the police.
She said that the firearms squad were sent to the scene and found a number of imi- tation weapons and body armour.
Sentencing Wells, Recorder Sullivan said: “What you did when you raised that rifle to the taxi driver must have terrified him.” She added that although Wells had known the gun could not do him any harm, Mr Muhith had not known that.
The Recorder said that the offence called for a prison sentence, but said it could be sus- pended for two years as Wells had already served the equivalent of a nine month sentence. Wells was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and to undergo supervision for 18 months.
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