Church gardener jailed for attacking taxi driver who asked him to stop smoking in car

Belfast Magistrates’ Court also heard 41-year-old Robin Fuller produced a screwdriver and tried to punch the victim taking him to pick up gardening supplies.

Fuller pleaded guilty to common assault, two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in public, criminal damage and making off without payment.

Prosecutors said the defendant became violent after being picked up at his accommodation on the Springfield Road, west Belfast on October 16 last year.

During a trip to B&Q in Newtownabbey he ignored repeated requests to stop smoking in the back of the taxi, the court was told.

The driver pulled over on the Antrim Road and asked Fuller to get out, at which point he offered £10 towards the £27.30 fare.

“He went on to rip down the Perspex Covid screen and cut his hand with a screwdriver,” a Crown lawyer said.

“The defendant then got out of the taxi, walked round to the driver’s door which he opened and tried to punch the injured party to the head.”

Fuller left the scene, but was arrested nearby by police who searched him and recovered a pair of scissors and the handle of a screwdriver.

The other part of the tool was located in the back of the taxi.

Defence solicitor Gordon Laird told the court Fuller had wanted to go to B&Q due to his job at the time as a church gardener.

According to Mr Laird the taxi driver pulled in at a darkened area close to Belfast Zoo following a “breakdown in communication”.

“My client isn’t from Belfast, didn’t know where he was, and he simply had a panic attack,” the lawyer said.

“He tried to get out of the taxi, tried to roll the windows down, tried to open the doors.

“He felt he had no other option but to try to get out of the taxi via the Covid screen to get into the front and out that way.”

Fuller took a screwdriver out of his pocket and used it as part of his attempt to exit the car.

A “scuffle” then developed at the driver’s door because he was worried about his belongings, it was contended.

Imposing a total sentence of four months, Judge Liam McStay held: “In all the circumstances it does cross the custody threshold.”

He also ordered Fuller to pay £27.30 compensation for the outstanding fare, and a further £100 to cover the cost of repairing the damaged Covid screen.