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Uber journey turns violent after vaping row as racist passenger ordered to pay private hire driver nearly £700
- Perry Richardson
- 1 minute ago
- 2 min read
A private hire passenger has been sentenced after a driver was assaulted, racially and religiously abused and had his vehicle damaged during an Uber-booked journey.
The incident happened on 2 January 2025 after a locally licensed private hire driver collected two women on an Uber booking, according to PC Patrick Quinton, ‘Taxi Cop’ at Avon and Somerset Police.
Police said the confrontation began when the driver asked the passengers to stop vaping inside the private hire vehicle. The women are said to have become aggressive and initially refused to leave the vehicle.
When the passengers eventually got out, the driver was subjected to racial and religious abuse and assaulted. The driver’s vehicle was also damaged and personal belongings were taken as the women left the area.
Part of the incident was captured by the driver’s mobile phone, while footage was also recorded by cameras fitted to the vehicle. Police said the video evidence became an important part of the subsequent case.
One of the women was charged with criminal damage and a religiously and racially aggravated assault. She appeared at Bristol Magistrates’ Court in April, where she was sentenced to pay £695.87 compensation to the driver.
The court also imposed 15 days of unpaid work, a mental health treatment requirement and a £220 fine.
The second woman received a conditional caution for a racially aggravated public order offence.
PC Patrick Quinton, Taxi Cop at Avon and Somerset Police, asked: “Video evidence was crucial in this case. Do you have cameras? Are they working?”
The case raises the issue of CCTV and other recording equipment as a safety measure for taxi and private hire drivers, particularly where an incident develops inside a vehicle with no independent witnesses present.
For drivers, footage can provide investigators with evidence of what was said and done during a confrontation, potentially supporting allegations involving assault, criminal damage or abusive behaviour. In this case, recordings from both the driver’s phone and vehicle cameras helped document what happened.
