A hospital worker drunkenly entered a car he thought was a taxi before making racial remarks towards two men and attacking a woman.
Reece Cuthbert, 25, demanded money from the men inside the car before grabbing the hair of a woman who filmed his abusive conduct.
During his tirade, a sozzled Cuthbert said: “I’ll ******* knock you out,” and accused the men of running an “illegal taxi”.
It was revealed at Dundee Sheriff Court that the woman had left the front passenger side of the car to withdraw money from an ATM on Reform Street.
Cuthbert, a maintenance technician at Ninewells Hospital, got into the front seat of the vehicle, believing it was a taxi.
Prosecutor Lora Apostolova said an argument ensued and Cuthbert began to make violent threats, including telling one of the men: “I’ll punch your puss. Give me £20 and I will be gone.”
Ms Apostolova told Sheriff Lorna Drummond: “The lady who went to get money saw the altercation and approached the car.
“The accused continued to shout abusive remarks saying this was a ‘******* illegal taxi’ and ‘we’re not in India we’re in Scotland.’
“The lady was filming the incident and stopped it before phoning 999. The accused got out of the car and started being aggressive towards her.
“He ran towards her and he grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her hair.”
The court heard that Cuthbert let go of her hair and ran away after she shouted out in pain. Police later caught up with Cuthbert and arrested him.
Cuthbert, of Haddington Avenue, pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on October 27 2019 on Reform Street by shouting, swearing, threatening violence and demanding money from Munawar Ali and Nazir Valimohamed. He admitted that the offence was racially aggravated.
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He also admitted pulling on Nadya Elbozidi’s hair during the same incident.
Defence solicitor Carolyn Leckie said Cuthbert had consumed far too much alcohol on a night out with friends and had become separated from his group.
Ms Leckie said Cuthbert was “highly-embarrassed” after viewing the mobile phone footage of the incident and has since stopped drinking alcohol altogether.
She added that her client had been suffering from a number of personal difficulties and was drinking to excess at that time.
“A lot of what he’s saying (in the video) does not really make any sense,” Ms Leckie said.
“It’s drunken ramblings. He is highly embarrassed. He is concerned by his behaviour.
“He absolutely accepts responsibility and he offers an apology. It is not behaviour he at all justifies in any way.”
Before being ordered to pay a total of £1,300 in compensation, Sheriff Drummond told Cuthbert: “It’s obviously not acceptable, you obviously recognise that yourself and you have behaved in a really inappropriate manner.”
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