The accused appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court in April last year – under the name Gavin Brannen and dressed as a woman – after racking up a £27 taxi bill on a trip from Newcastle to South Shields before fleeing the vehicle.
The court heard on that occasion that he was going through gender reassignment and wanted to be known as Katie. The 22-year-old was back at the court yesterday, under the name of Katie Brannen, after dashing off at the end of another taxi ride from Sunderland to her home in Frederick Street, South Shields, without paying a £20 bill.
Brannen pleaded guilty to making off without payment and was fined £110 and warned that she had to learn the ‘consequences’ of her decisions.
Lee Poppett, prosecuting, said: “At 4.45am on Sunday, June 8, the taxi driver picked up three people in Vine Place in Sunderland. Two of them got out in East Vines in Sunderland, leaving only Brannen in the taxi. She said she had sufficient funds for the taxi.
“When the taxi got to Frederick Street she got out and walked away. The taxi driver asked what she was doing and she said she was going to get money for the taxi.
“He was suspicious and followed her.
“She ran away and the police were called.”
Laura Johnson, defending, said: “She didn’t have enough money for the taxi and has made a bad decision.”
Kenneth Webster, chairman of the magistrates, said: “You have had leeway from the court in the past. You need to understand the decisions you make have consequences, one of which is appearing in court again.
“We are not impressed – especially as you’ve done something similar in the past.”
Brannen was ordered to pay £20.20 compensation to the taxi driver, costs of £85 and a £20 victim surcharge – making for a total court bill of £235.20.
------------------------------------------------
HEATHROW
A traffic policeman who throttled a driver for “kissing” his teeth has walked free from court.
William Eliot, 45, grabbed motorist Adebowale Odomosu by the throat until his eyes bulged “like a cartoon character”.
Mr Odomosu begged “please don’t kill me” during the attack, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
Eliot and colleague PC Robert Hughes had stopped Mr Odomosu in the Terminal Three car park at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of being a taxi tout last August.
Mr Odomosu was not arrested, but his car was impounded because his tyres were too worn.
PC Hughes said Mr Odomosu kept “kissing his teeth” - sucking air sharply through his teeth to make a loud tutting noise - while the officer was inspecting the car.
Eliot became angry and told Mr Odomosu: “If you kiss your teeth at me again I’m going to punch them into the back of your throat.”
PC Hughes said Eliot repeated the threat on five different occasions when Mr Odomosu continued to make the noise.
He added: “It took me by surprise, it was obviously quite an aggressive thing to say.”
PC Hughes said his colleague grabbed Mr Odomosu for no more than 10 seconds, but he was squeezing so hard Mr Odomosu’s eyes were bulging from his head.
“He held him around the throat with his hand, Mr Odomosu looked terrified, his eyes were cartoon-like in that they were bulging out of his head.”
Mr Odomosu denied ever kissing his teeth at Eliot but claimed the officer suddenly grabbed him round the neck and squeezed it hard for up to three minutes.
He told the court: “He got me around the neck with his right hand and he forced me against a metal barrier.”
He said the assault caused him long-term neck pain and made it difficult to eat for several days afterwards.
Eliot claimed he only restrained Mr Odomosu using a normal grip after Mr Odomosu spat at him.
He said PC Hughes was busy playing on his phone in the front seat of the car and did not see the incident.
“I was less than impressed by my colleague’s behaviour, I would have expected him to be keeping an eye on the individual we were talking to – talking to him, explaining what’s going on, just keeping him in the area.”
Eliot claimed PC Hughes may have a grudge because he refused to support Hughes’ bid for a promotion.
PC Hughes reported the incident to a senior officer the same day but did not mention the assault.
Eliot was found guilty of common assault after a trial earlier this month.
District Judge John Zani handed Eliot a 12-week term, suspended for 18 months.
He also ordered him to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and send Mr Odomosu £500 compensation.
Judge Zani told Eliot the assault amounted to “the gratuitous degradation of a victim in a public place”.
‘The evidence against you, as presented by the Crown, was in my view utterly overwhelming.’
Passing sentence, the judge: “Remorse is often very important, so that we acknowledge were we are wrong, but you seem either incapable or unwilling to do that.
“I am just of the view, but it has been within a hair’s width, that the term of imprisonment is going to be suspended.”
Judge Zani added: “I take into account in this matter that you have been a police officer of long-standing impeccable character, and I have read an array of references.
“I ask myself why would PC Hughes have come here and given me this evidence if it wasn’t truthful evidence.”
Eliot, of Charlton Road, Shepperton, Surrey, denied common assault by beating.
He now faces police disciplinary proceedings.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/traffic-cop-throttled-taxi-driver-until-his-eyes-bulged-because-he-kissed-his-teeth-at-him-9680114.html
-------------------------------------------------------------
A taxi driver from Dover who sexually assaulted two teenage women who had been on nights out has been jailed.
Rezgar Hassan, aged 22, of High Street in Dover, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and sentenced to three years in prison.
He was driving a taxi in Market Square when he accepted a fare from a 19 year old woman and her two friends.
The victim sat in the front seat of the taxi and during the course of the journey, felt Hassan put his hand on her leg. It was then that he inappropriately touched her.
Upon exiting the taxi, the victim told her friends and the following day she reported it to police.
Hassan was arrested and he was later picked out in identity parade.
In a second incident, he approached a 17 year old girl was waiting at a train station, offering her a lift home to Folkestone for free.
Hassan started asking intimate questions and told her if she showed him her breasts, he would let her go.
He then pulled her top down and inappropriately touched her before allowing the girl to get out.
No comments:
Post a Comment