A GREENOCK man has been locked up after he admitted severely injuring a taxi driver in a violent assault which left him hospitalised for almost a month.

Jamie McLaughlin, 25, was due to stand trial before a jury at Greenock Sheriff Court this week but offered a plea of guilty yesterday morning.

He attacked the man on Nelson Street on August 1, 2022, with the incident later sparking a local campaign for a ban on CCTV in taxis to be lifted.

The court heard that McLaughlin struck the driver on the head and body with a bag containing a blunt object, leaving him severely injured.

Nicole Bradley, 27, was also charged with carrying out the assault, but her plea of not guilty was accepted by the Crown.

The pair were passengers in the vehicle which was travelling to an address in Greenock when they requested to be taken to a property in Nelson Street instead.

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The driver indicated that this would result in an increased fare, with Ms Bradley noting that she would retrieve the extra money from someone within the close.

A procurator fiscal depute said the taxi driver became ‘suspicious’ that he would not receive the fare and therefore exited the vehicle at the same time as the passengers.

McLaughlin thereafter swung a blue carrier bag containing a ‘solid’ item and struck the man on the forehead.

He then struck the driver’s knee, causing him to fall to the ground.

A neighbour heard the altercation taking place and later found the victim injured outside the building before phoning the police.

The driver was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, where received stitches for a one inch laceration on his forehead.

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He also underwent surgery for a knee fracture and remained in hospital for several weeks afterwards.

The court heard that the man has not yet returned to work due to being ‘anxious and fearful’ of a similar incident occurring.

Defence solicitor Gerry Keenan explained that McLaughlin had moved back to Greenock around two or three weeks before the attack.

Mr Keenan said: “He had been working away in Edinburgh. In effect, he had turned his life around.

“He suffered an industrial accident to his hand and as a result was not able to continue.

“He returned to this area. That was not a good decision, but it was a decision he had to make.”

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Mr Keenan said his client was impaired through drugs on the evening the incident took place but had ‘some recollection’ of the events.

He added: “They got into the close and the taxi driver remained outside.

“There was a verbal altercation between Mr McLaughlin and the taxi driver.

“Mr McLaughlin stupidly left the close and continued the altercation which became physical.

“He said he does not know where the bag came from. He does not know what was in it.

“Mr McLaughlin regrets what he did to the taxi driver. It all happened very much in the heat of the moment.”

Sheriff Anthony McGeehan described the offence as ‘too serious’ for a non-custodial sentence, noting that McLaughlin already has a ‘significant’ record.

McLaughlin, of Roxburgh Street, was handed a 21-month prison sentence, which was reduced from 24 months as a result of his plea.