Taxi driver jailed for road rage OAP attack
A TAXI driver is today starting a jail sentence for a road rage attack which left a pensioner with brain damage and unable to have a life-saving heart op.
Thomas Draper, aged 67, died of his heart condition six weeks after Ranbir Singh's attack.
Doncaster Crown Court heard 25-year-old Singh, of Stoops Lane, Bessacarr, floored his victim with a single punch.
The impact with the road left him with a fractured skull and damage to his brain – and meant he could not have the heart bypass operation he was waiting for.
Mr Draper died in May. Doctors said his death was unrelated to the injuries he suffered in the assault by Singh on Saturday April 4.
But Judge Graham Robinson said his heart bypass operation had been delayed because of the injuries he had sustained, and he died before he could have his surgery.
Iain Hillis, prosecuting, said Mr Draper had been out drinking on the night of the attack and had shouted insults at Mr Singh from the street after the cabbie pulled out in front of a bus on Hallgate.
Mr Draper went over to his cab and tried the door handle, but it was locked.
Singh then got out of the taxi and punched Mr Draper, of Sandhurst Road, Cantley, before driving off. Three people had to leap out of the way as he drove from the scene.
Mr Hillis told the court friends said Mr Draper had not been the same man after the attack. He said: "He was confused and disorientated. He could not even operate the television set.
"Before that he was practical and capable."
He added: "There is nothing to suggest this assault led to his death, but it clearly meant that the last two months of his life were more uncomfortable than they would have been."
In defence, Michael Cane-Soothill said Singh had pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm at the first opportunity, and pointed to his previous good character.
He told how, as a taxi driver, Singh had been abused, assaulted and had his vehicle damaged in the past, all without losing his temper.
He said Singh had been working during the day in one job, and as a taxi driver at night to support himself and his wife, who had recently arrived in Doncaster from India. He said the couple could lose their home if he was jailed, as he would lose his job.
Sentencing Singh to 16 months in prison, Judge Robinson said it must have been clear to him that his victim was 67.
He said: "You punched him with enough force to send him immediately backwards to the ground.
"Having punched Mr Draper and seen him fall to the ground, your reaction was not to see if you could help, but to run away by getting back into the taxi and driving off at what some witnesses described as 'at some speed'.
"Three members of the public had to jump out of your way.
"The injuries suffered by Mr Draper were severe. There was some brain damage noticed in the post mortem. He had been due to have a heart bypass. That was delayed because of the injuries and he died before that. His head injury was not a direct contributory factor.
"This was plainly premeditated. You got out to hit your victim.
Your provocation was choice language by an elderly man at the way you were driving.
"His injuries were grave, but not intended – there is no question about an intended consequence of your single act of violence.
"This was a single blow. The effect of this conviction is that you will surely never work again as a licensed taxi driver."
Mr Draper's son, Robert, said he had never had the chance to speak to his father about what had happened.
He said: "He shouldn't have hit an old man. I feel justice has been done. It is terrible for everyone at the moment.
"There was no need for Ranbir Singh to do what he did, but there was no need for my dad to do what he did either."
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