Cone-wielding pub landlord ordered to pay taxi driver £750 after ‘parking rage’ attack

A fuming pub landlord has been fined for battering a taxi with a police traffic cone in a bizarre “parking rage” attack.

Adrian Birch, 63, flipped after spotting a taxi driver stop on double yellow lines outside his boozer.

A court heard he was fed up with cabbies waiting for fares with their engines on outside the Horn and Trumpet pub he ran in Worcester.

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The car was damaged following the incident which happened on September 8, 2019.

Birch admitted criminal damage on the first day of his trial at Worcester Crown Court.

His Honour Judge Jonathan Salmon blasted Birch for attacking the taxi in what he dubbed “parking rage”.

He told Birch: “You were abusive towards him. You chose to take out your anger by causing damage to his motorcar.”

The judge fined Birch £125 and awarded compensation to the victim of £750.

The court heard the victim was working as a taxi driver but stopped on double yellow lines when other spaces were full.

William Dudley, prosecuting said: “He parked opposite the pub. He became aware of someone hitting the driver-side window of the taxi.

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“The defendant swore at the victim. [Birch] picked up a police traffic cone on the side of the road. He hit the rear door about three times. The victim, sensibly, did not engage and drove away.”

The prosecutor added that the taxi had “distinct scratches and dents” on its side following the attack.

Mohammed Latif, defending, said Birch acted “out of frustration” because taxis parked outside his pub and he did not like the noise and fumes.

The court heard Birch was no longer the landlord of the pub and was now only working 20 hours a week.

Birch denied a second charge of racially aggravated criminal damage which was allowed to lie on file.

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