A 31-YEAR-OLD man who jabbed a taxi driver with a hammer shaft in a racially aggravated assault after a drunken night out has been spared an immediate prison sentence.
Caring father, Jason Calligan, argued with Yaser Iqbal over the £13 fare from Halifax to Queensbury at 1.30am on June 20 last year.
Calligan jabbed Mr Iqbal in the back but did not cause him any injury, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.
He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault and was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with a probation service rehabilitation requirement. He must pay Mr Iqbal £300 compensation.
The court heard that Calligan had little recollection of the incident in which he racially insulted Mr Iqbal.
A fellow taxi driver who witnessed it called the police and Calligan was arrested two months later.
He had previous convictions for wounding, battery, actual bodily harm and common assault.
Calligan's barrister, Camille Morland, said he was a hard working man, extremely well thought of by his employer, and a caring father.
He was disgusted by his behaviour that night and truly remorseful.
Mr Iqbal was uninjured in the incident in which minimal violence was used.
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