Binge-drinking racist came on to taxi driver, claimed he’d been kidnapped and smashed window at Ramsgate railway station
05:00, 05 February 2024
updated: 12:03, 05 February 2024
A binge-drinking racist came on to a taxi driver – and then called police from the back of the cab to claim he was being kidnapped.
Edward Malone, from Deal, even got his penis out when officers were alerted to the situation after fearful cabbie Abdul Ghafoor flagged down a passing patrol car.
The 50-year-old, who had earlier binged on booze in Dover, initially got into the taxi late at night and asked to be taken home.
But Folkestone magistrates heard soon after getting into the cab, Malone started asking Mr Ghafoor sexual questions and even asked him to go back to his place.
But after being rebuffed by the cabbie, the drunken menace started racially abusing him and told him he shouldn’t be in Britain.
Describing the events of April 15 last year, prosecutor Victoria Aked told magistrates that Mr Ghafoor could see Malone was intoxicated. But he had decided to take the fare, asking for the cash up front before setting off.
The prosecutor said: “The taxi driver said he started asking him sexual questions and suggested he go back to his house [with him] and then asked where he was from and said: ‘You’re not even British – you’re foreign. You should not be here.’”
She added that when the cabbie drove up Jubilee Way out of the town, Malone called 999 and started telling police call centre staff he was being kidnapped.
At this point, Mr Ghafoor flashed his lights at a police car for help.
Officers stopped and spoke to Malone but he refused to get out of the cab and started abusing one officer, an acting police sergeant.
The prosecutor added: “Police could smell intoxicant on his breath and he asked the officer where he came from and when he replied that he came from Wales, the defendant said: ‘I know the Welsh - they are very dark. You look foreign and most are morons. You’re not engaged to Dafydd, are you? Go back to Wales.’”
Ms Aked said when officers did get Malone out of the vehicle he started taking his penis out of his trousers to urinate, but was told he would have to wait until he got to custody.
Then, when being transported to the police station, he asked: “Is saying ‘Go back to Wales’ a crime?”
Ms Aked said: “He was mouthy and made racial and disparaging remarks and during interview admitted he was out of control and had made unpleasant remarks.
“He has a previous conviction for assault in 2018 when he was asked to leave [somewhere else], but refused and he called officers queer. There was an assault on police – he urinated towards police.”
The court heard how a week before the incident, Malone had been arrested by British Transport Police following an incident at Ramsgate railway station after another drinking session.
Learning that he had missed the last train home in the early hours of April 8, he refused to leave the station and became aggressive and obstructive.
After about 20 minutes, staff had to call on a BTP officer to assist them.
But after being ejected, instead of walking off, Malone turned around in front of the officers, picked up a stick and smashed a station window.
He was promptly arrested over the matter. After being released on bail later that day, he then decided to go for more drinks.
Malone returned to the same station to get the train home later that night and again missed the last service. Instead of leaving, he walked down the tracks towards his home but fell asleep next to the rail about a mile from the station.
The court heard BTP officers had to walk down the track in search of him. When they found him they had to wake him up and he was arrested again.
Malone, of Trinity Place, was later charged with two counts of racially aggravated harassment, trespassing on the railway and criminal damage.
He admitted all four when he appeared in court in November last year when a pre-sentencing report was ordered.
He returned to Folkstone Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to hear his fate.
The bench was told the taxi driver had given a victim impact statement after his ordeal.
He said he had been a cabbie for about 10 years and that he had been upset to be told to go back to his own country as he had lived here for 14 years and considered Britain to be his country.
Miss Aked added that the police officer who had been on the end of one of Malone’s tirades also felt it was unacceptable to be abused over race or sexuality.
The prosecutor added: “He also has a previous conviction for criminal damage in 2008 and I will be asking for £200 compensation in relation to the window he smashed at the station.”
Nigel Numas, defending, said his client’s brain had been scrambled by the booze.
He added: “He had fallen into his old ways into the crutch of alcohol. He is deeply remorseful and said so in interview.
“These offences occurred when he was binge drinking – it’s the route of his offending. He was the victim of an assault [on another occasion] and he was suffering and dealing with the trauma of it.
“He does have some mental health issues and had stopped taking his meds. He’s got an addiction. His behaviour was unacceptable.”
Magistrates said they were uplifting the offence from a low-level community order to a suspended sentence because of the racial and homophobic elements of Malone’s abuse.
They jailed him for six weeks for the abuse and criminal damage offences but suspended the term for 18 months.
Malone was also placed on an 18-month community order which will see him complete an alcohol treatment requirement for nine months and attend 35 rehabilitation sessions with probation.
He was also ordered to pay Mr Ghafoor and the police officer £100 compensation each, as well as paying £200 to Southeastern for the broken window.
Malone received no separate penalty for the trespass on the railway offence and told magistrates he would pay what he owed the court within 28 days.
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