JUST DESERTS


NORTH TYNESIDE WOMAN GUILTY OF RACIALLY ABUSING TAXI DRIVER


A North Tyneside woman has been found guilty of a racially aggravated assault on a taxi driver following a dispute over a fare. Paige Harvey, 30, was accused of spitting on the driver, pushing him, and using “horrible, racist language” after a night out in Newcastle.


The incident occurred on May 27, 2022, after Harvey and her mother got into a taxi. According to the court, Harvey disputed the £40 fare, arguing it should be closer to £22. The disagreement quickly escalated, with Harvey becoming “aggres- sive,” spitting on the driver, pushing his shoulder, and calling him a “f***ing Chinese.”


When police arrived, they witnessed Harvey kicking the driver. An officer told the court that she continued to be abusive and use racist slurs even after she was arrested. Miss Harvey, who had been drinking for several hours, told the court she had no recollection of using such language, in the taxi or on the way to the police station. Emily Sanderson, prosecuting, said: “The defendant suggested that the complainant has made all this up.” The victim, who has been a taxi driver since 2008, testified: “It was awful, I was scared. When people talk like this, it’s absolutely disgusting.


“I have been driving taxis for a long time, I have got experience, I know how to


deal with


customers but unfortunately she was being very aggressive.” He added that while he has dealt with similar situations, he has “not [had] someone who has spat or been aggressive like that.” Harvey, pleaded not guilty to the charge, however,


magistrates


found the evidence from the victim and the arresting officer to be “consistent and credible,” while ruling Harvey’s testimony was not. Harvey, who has two previous convictions, was released on unconditional bail and will be sentenced at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on October 3.


ARCHITECT STRUCK OFF REGISTER AFTER RACIST ATTACK ON TAXI DRIVER IN MACCLESFIELD


An architect who had just celebrated qualifying for his profession has been struck off the register after a “moment of madness” where he racially abused and assaulted a taxi driver. A disciplinary hearing was told that Thomas Ford


stole the


driver's car after the attack and crashed it into a fence. The Architects Registration Board (ARB) Professional Conduct Committee decided to remove Ford from the register, stating the public would be “rightly appalled” by his actions.


The incident occurred in November 2022 after Ford had


PHTM SEPTEMBER 2025


been celebrating his new qualification with colleagues. After his colleagues were dropped off, Ford was left alone with the driver. According to the hearing, he became “irate” after asking the driver where he was from and learning he was from Pakistan. Ford then hurled a racial slur, asking him to “go back where you came from,” before punching the driver and forcing him from the car. Ford then stole the taxi, a Toyota Prius, and later crashed it “beyond repair” in a residential garden. Police found him hiding nearby and arrested him for driving over


the legal alcohol limit. He later pleaded guilty to four charges, including racially aggravated harassment and assault, and was given an 18-week suspended prison sentence. The committee acknowledged it was a “personal tragedy” that Ford was being struck off so soon after his hard work. The panel concluded: “He is unable to explain why, when drunk, he would resort to racial slurs in order to insult. The conduct that led to


the


convictions is fundamentally incompatible with continuing to be an architect.”


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