Racism case against taxi driver thrown out
13 Dec 07
Inappropriate language in conversation with passengers not breach of peace - sheriff
An elderly taxi driver who was taken to court for using racist language in his cab has had the case against him ruled insufficient in law.
James Young, 71, was arrested after Jane Ross and her daughter Karen Girolami, who are white, reported him to the police for the language he used while driving them in his taxi. The mother and daughter had been talking about the difficulties local parents faced in finding places at top secondary schools for their children.
The driver had joined in, saying it was all the fault of "Pakis", and went on to use derogatory terms to describe people of other races. Mrs Girolami said that she and her mother had remained upset and angry until that evening, when they decided to phone the police.
Mr Young was charged with a breach of the peace with racial aggravation, an offence under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
However, at Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday Sheriff Maxwell Hendry said the driver's comments had been embarrassing, annoying and inappropriate, but that they did not constitute a breach of the peace, and therefore that it could not be racially aggravated.
The sheriff said there was no comprehensive definition in Scots law for a breach of the peace, and that the case was a "borderline" one.
A Crown Office spokeswoman said the prosecution service took all complaints with a racial element very seriously, but could not say how much money the case would have cost taxpayers.