A man who bit a taxi driver in the face as he drove him through Glenrothes has been jailed.
Thomas McCabe,32, was picked up at Styx snooker hall in the early hours of May 7 this year.
The driver was taking McCabe towards McDonald’s when he noticed his fare was intoxicated and asked him to pay in advance.
McCabe then started getting angry, demanded the driver stop and refused to pay the outstanding fare.
Procurator fiscal depute Douglas Thomson told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court: “The witness (taxi driver) informed him he would drive to the police station.
“The accused began striking the front windscreen of the vehicle.
“The driver was alarmed but before he could react the accused grabbed him and they struggled.
“After doing this he bit the witness to the face while (he was) still driving the vehicle.”
Drove to police officers
The fiscal depute said police were seen by the driver on Leslie Road and he made his way towards them, sounding the horn.
Both the driver and McCabe, who was sitting in the front passenger seat during the journey, left the car.
McCabe was arrested and officers noted a red mark on the taxi driver’s face where he had been bitten.
McCabe pled guilty to assaulting Mr Afzal in the course of his employment by struggling with him and biting him in the face while the vehicle was in motion.
He also admitted wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging property belonging to another by repeatedly kicking the windscreen and damaging it.
Celebrating job
Defence lawyer David Cranston said McCabe had been out celebrating a new job with a removal firm on the night of the incident and had not been intoxicated for “a good couple of years”.
McCabe had also lined up a college course in carpentry and joinery before he was remanded for the offence in May.
Mr Cranston said there had been no suggestion McCabe would have to pay up front and the taxi driver incorrectly took the view he would defraud him of the fare.
The solicitor said when the driver told McCabe he would drive to the police station, McCabe felt he had not done anything wrong and asked to get out of the taxi three times.
Mr Cranston said: “He accepts a struggle ensued and during the course he bit a man on the cheek.
“It’s true to say it’s almost invisible.
“Police mentioned it was a haematoma on the cheek – not the most significant assault.
“There was never intention of a crime being committed but when suggested to him he was going to commit fraud he accepts he dealt with it in the wrong way”.
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane jailed McCabe for 14 months, backdated to May 9 when he was remanded in custody.
The court heard that McCabe has previous convictions.
