Mansfield alcoholic told to tackle boozing after racist assault on taxi driver

Mansfield Magistrates’ Court heard Ian Rigley was drunk when he hailed the taxi on Leeming Street, on July 23, last year.

Rebecca Williams, prosecuting, said Rigley was warned not to eat the takeaway food he brought, but at some stage the 36-year-old spilled some of it on the back seat.

Stopping at the One Stop store on Westfield Lane, the driver told him there was a £60 soiling charge.

Rigley tried to wipe the mess up with tissues, but when the driver told him it needed soap and water, he threatened to knock his ‘black teeth out of his face’.

He loomed over the driver and forced him into a crouching position, before punching him in the back of his head.

A member of staff from the shop tried to intervene and overheard Rigley using more racist insults.

His victim said the pain in the back of his head was ‘thrashing’ as he continued to work, and it lasted until the next day, but he did not need medical treatment.

The court heard Rigley was jailed for 180 days for a racially-aggravated assault, in 2008.

Rigley, of Queensway, Forest Town, initially denied racially aggravated harassment and assault, but pleaded guilty on the day of his trial.

Donna Pursglove, mitigating, said Rigley has previous convictions for ‘different types of offences’, but there was a gap in his offending between 2014 and 2021.

She said he has a ‘very significant alcohol problem’ and ‘most of his offending was committed while he was intoxicated’.

She said Rigley stopped drinking to excess while working full-time, but lost his job in lockdown.

“He coped with that by drinking to excess, and on occasions until he passed out,” she said. “He accepts that he is an alcoholic and needs some help. He knows if he doesn't stop he will end up in prison.”

He was handed a 12-month community order, with a six-month alcohol treatment programme and five rehabilitation days, and ordered to pay £100 compensation, £200 costs and a £95 surcharge.