Yahoo News Uber driver badly injured by passenger who spouted racist abuse on way from Sunderland to Newcastle
A taxi driver was left seriously injured after being repeatedly punched in the face by an angry customer who spouted vile racist abuse at him.
The Uber driver had been tasked to pick up Lucas Jones' partner and then him in the early hours of May 25 2023 and told to take them from Sunderland to Newcastle. Jones, who had been drinking and taking cocaine, became racially abusive and aggressive during the journey before turning violent.
Philip Morley, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: "The defendant was racially abusive, saying things such as 'drive on ****' and was abusive to his girlfriend, calling her a '**** sh*****'. He punched the taxi windscreen, causing it to break.
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"He then punched the taxi driver, who was driving at the time and temporarily lost control of the vehicle and he could feel blood on his face at this point. The defendant continued the ill-treatment of the driver and was complaining he was going the wrong way.
"He punched him in the face again. He asked where to drop him off and the defendant said 'I will tell you' then punched him in the face again. He had to stop the car because of his injuries.
"The defendant continued to punch him in the face repeatedly until he ran out of the car. The female in the back wasn't saying anything."
Jones then chased the taxi driver until he realised his girlfriend had also run off and he began to pursue her instead. The taxi driver, who was in an unfamiliar area in Sunderland, managed to get to a housing estate and called police and an ambulance arrived to take him to hospital.
He was left with two black eyes, his nose was broken in two places, he lost three teeth, had a cracked jaw, needed seven stitches in his face and had bruising to his mouth.
In a victim impact statement, he said: "When the incident occurred I felt rubbish. This was because I didn't argue or anything.
"It's just racism from the male. He assaulted me because he is racist and I did nothing wrong. It left me in so much pain - physically and mentally I was really struggling."
He said he has had to half his working hours as a result of the attack and his family have suffered financially. He added: "When a young person gets in the car I start to panic in case anything happens again. I also panic if I'm near the area where it happened.
"I can't work as much as I used to because of the mental effects of it. I can't concentrate for very long because of the injuries I suffered.
"It's also affected my sleeping pattern. I used to sleep very well but now I find it difficult to sleep. I have been having nightmares because of the incident and I wake up crying.
"I still feel very anxious because of the incident. I'm destroyed because of this incident, it's really turned my life upside down."
Jones, 27, of Tanfield Road, Thorney Close, Sunderland, who has previous convictions for violence including GBH with intent, was originally charged with GBH with intent but prosecutors accepted guilty pleas to GBH and criminal damage. Judge Sarah Mallett said she agreed with a pre-sentence report which said he is a dangerous offender but said she would not impose an extended sentence because of progress he has made in custody. He was jailed for 31 months.
Glenn Gatland, defending, said Jones and his partner were planning on going to a hotel in Newcastle in the early hours. He told the court: "The defendant is a very hard-working man and very hard playing man. When he is not working he binges.
"He has considerable remorse for this. The racial abuse was said in anger rather than being the principle motivation for the attack. He was plainly angry with his partner rather than the taxi driver, to begin with."
