Darlington man jumped up and down on taxi car bonnet

Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard today (Thursday, May 23) that 29-year-old Mark Simmons got into a taxi outside the Turks Head pub in Bondgate on April 26 but was so drunk that the driver Adrian Nistor could not understand him when he gave his address.

Simmons demanded to know where Mr Nistor was from and after hearing that he was Romanian he kicked the dashboard and told Mr Nistor that he would not be getting paid his £7 fare.

Mr Nistor stopped the car and phoned the police, while Simmons vandalised the vehicle by pulling back the passenger door, tugging at the wing mirror and jumping up and down on the bonnet.

Prosecutor Lynne Dalton said: “He (Mr Nistor) was unable to finish his shift because of the incident; he feared for his personal safety.”

In a statement summarised in court, Mr Nistor said: “This was a normal journey, however, when he found out my nationality he clearly changed; I believe he had a problem with this.”

When a police officer arrived at the scene, Simmons asked him whether he was foreign before kicking him in the leg.

At an earlier hearing, Simmons pleaded guilty to racially aggravated criminal damage, making off without paying the taxi fare and to assaulting a police officer.

In mitigation he told the court that he was “appalled” by his behaviour and did not consider himself to be a racist.

The court had also heard that Simmons had been drinking too much as he struggled to cope with the suicide of a close cousin.

Presiding magistrate Rajeev Devgan told Simmons that the racial element lifted the criminal damage offence into a tougher sentencing band.

After reading a probation report on Simmons, Mr Devgan went along with its recommendations and imposed a 12-month community order including supervision and completion of a thinking skills programme.

Simmons, of Tunstall Terrace, Darlington, was also told to pay a total of £427 in compensation and court charges.