A Moroccan taxi driver racially assaulted in England

Shane Orchard, a 33 year-old man from Cam, a village in England, has admitted at Cheltenham Magistrates court yesterday that he racially assaulted a Moroccan taxi driver. The accused was found guilty by the judges for offending Abdellatif Settar who is originally from Morocco on the 1st of April, reports Gazette news.

The court based its sentence on a recording that Settar had of the incident. According to the recording, Orchard called Settar «Paki», a racist appellation that refers to Pakistani and Indian immigrants in the UK and asking him to «go back to [his] country». The offender denied at first having spoken to the Morrocan taxi driver in a racist language but after hearing the recording he admitted having assaulted Settar.

Three weeks ago, Orchad and his partner «had been refused transport by another driver at the taxi rank in Gloucester due to their drunken state… but Mr Settar agreed to take them back to Durlsey for a flat fee of £40», prosecutor Rhodi Jones said. After they both disagreed about the previously agreed fee, «Mr Orchard grabbed Mr Settar from behind and pulled him back by the hood of his jacket which caused Mr Settar to endure a certain amount of throttling», as indicated by the same source.