Crash cabbie comes clean
A FORMER taxi driver initially tried to blame his three teenage passengers when he drunkenly crashed his car while more than three times the legal limit.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Andrew Parkinson said that Kamal Abdullah Al-Doma Adam had told police he had crashed because the teens, aged 14, 15 and 16, had been assaulting him.
“CCTV footage (proved) that allegation was … untrue,” Sgt Parkinson said.
However, Adam’s solicitor Rowan Silva told the Cairns Magistrates Court yesterday this was actually a misinterpretation and that he had been describing to police a disagreement between the boys over where to turn.
Adam, 46, a taxi driver for eight years, has been without a licence for two months.
Magistrate Richard Lehmann disqualified Adam for a further 10 months as well as a $1200 fine after he pleaded guilty to high-range drinkdriving. He has also lost his job with Cairns Taxis.
Adam had a blood alcohol reading of 0.154 per cent when he crashed into traffic lights on Spence St about 4pm on August 5 this year.
“He does not suggest that the accident was caused by any of the persons, who were in the vehicle, assaulting him,” Mr Silva said.
One of Adam’s passengers had tapped him to get his attention to tell him to turn, Mr Silva said, resulting in a sharp turn that caused the crash.
“Had he not been intoxicated to that extent, he expects that he would have controlled the taxi better than he did and he would have ordinarily avoided the accident,” Mr Silva said.
The court was told Adam had returned the night before from visiting his daughter in Townsville, who he saw once a fortnight. Leaving his daughter distressed him and caused him to drink more than usual.
“He kept drinking, he went to sleep your honour but he was still intoxicated … at the time that he decided to go to work,” Mr Silva said.
“That was obviously a very, very poor decision on his part.”