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Drunk Alness woman assaulted and abused city taxi driver – she was fined £320 by Sheriff Robert Frazer at Inverness Sheriff Court


By Ali Morrison

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Sheriff Robert Frazer.
Sheriff Robert Frazer.

A taxi driver was called an offensive name by a drunk Alness woman who had fallen out with an intoxicated friend in his vehicle.

But he will receive £100 in compensation for the insult as 31-year-old Jessica Crawford, of Burnside, was ordered by Sheriff Robert Frazer to pay up for her “disgraceful behaviour”, he told her.

Crawford was also fined £320 after previously admitting acting in a racially aggravated manner and assaulting the cabbie by striking him on the face.

Sentence had been deferred for a background report when Inverness Sheriff Court was told Crawford had got into the taxi in Inverness’s Academy Street on December 22, 2021.

The court heard Crawford asked for her and her pal to be taken to Conon but then there was a row between the pair.

Fiscal depute Karen Poke said the driver asked them to leave his cab but she refused and shouted racial abuse at him, including using the “N” word.

Then she struck the driver in the face.

“She was pushed away and police were called. Crawford was traced to Bar One nearby, heavily intoxicated and arrested,” Ms Poke added.

Defence solicitor advocate Neil Wilson said: “She has difficulty coming to terms with the charges due to shame and embarrassment.

“She insists to me that she is not a racist.

“Going out is a rare occasion for her and she has to accept responsibility for the state she got herself into.

“It is out of character for her. She is now focused on staying out of trouble.”

Sheriff Frazer said he accepted she had “shown a considerable amount of contrition. But your behaviour on that night was nothing short of disgraceful.”


View our fact sheet on court reporting here




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