Man escapes jail after assaulting Southport taxi driver

Man escapes jail after assaulting Southport taxi driver

Joel Verite from Southport has pleaded guilty to assaulting a taxi driver and police officers during an altercation earlier this month.

Verite was arrested after being suspected of trying to strangle and assault a cab driver over a small fare from Churchtown to Southport.

Despite his friends trying to stop him, he became angry and when police tried to subdue him, he assaulted three arresting officers.

At court on Wednesday 9th Aughust he pleaded guilty to assault by beating and assaulting three constables.

He was handed a 16 week prison sentence which was suspended. Verite will also have to carry out 200 hours of community work to atone for his deeds.

Southport taxi driver assaulted over a £4 fare from Churchtown to Lord Street

A Southport taxi driver has been left shaken and unable to work after a vicious attack as he dropped customers at the Scarisbrick Hotel (Sunday 23 July 2017).

The passenger, who has since been arrested and remains at a Merseyside Police station for questioning, flew into a rage over the fact his friend had paid over £4 from Churchtown to Lord Street, Southport.

The passenger, who was sat behind the driver, pushed the victims head forward while he was driving and allegedly attempted to strangle him after the taxi had pulled up outside the Scarisbrick Hotel.

It’s understood there were three other passengers in the cab at the time who attempted to defuse the situation when their friend became irate. The assailant fled the scene after a further brief scuffle and was later arrested by four police officers.

The victim was assessed at the scene by paramedics and suffered severe bruising to his neck and minor injuries to his windpipe.

The accused is set appear in court on the 09/08/2017.