End of road for cabbie

Driver let go after assaulting passenger during row

A GOLD Coast taxi driver has lost his job after assaulting a 26-year-old woman who filmed him during an argument in his cab.

Sushil Kuman Pathania has been suspended from his cab driving post since July this year after the incident, which left the woman weeping in the back of his taxi.

A video of the assault about 12.40am on July 23 also shows Pathania travelling at 129km/h on the M1 – 19km/h over the speed limit.

Gold Coast Cabs yesterday confirmed Pathania would not be reinstated as a driver.

The Southport Magistrates Court heard Pathania forgot to turn the fare meter on when he picked the woman up at Griffith University in Southport to take her to a Coomera address.

Pathania realised his error while driving on the M1 near Helensvale and offered to just charge the woman a fare of $50.

The woman refused and asked to be let out of the cab.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Nick Wang said Pathania declined to drop the woman off because they were in the “middle of nowhere” and instead offered to take her back to the university.

The woman began to film Pathania using her phone and the cab driver pushed his hand back to move the camera, striking the woman on the wrist.

Snr Const. Wang said the woman was not hurt but Pathania’s actions left her terrified.

“She spent the rest of the trip crying,” he said.

The woman’s video also captured the speedometer in Pathania’s car showing him reaching speeds of 129km/h.

Defence lawyer Mollie Roper said Pathania was the main breadwinner for his wife and children and his suspension from work had placed the family in hardship.

She said Pathania did not mean to strike the woman.

“The camera comes back into his face and that must have been very distracting while he was driving,” she said.

Magistrate Mark Howden sentenced Pathania to a three month good behaviour order for the assault and fined him $250 for speeding. No conviction as recorded. Gold Coast Cabs executive general manager Benjamin Lee said Pathania had been suspended since the company had been alerted about the incident by police.

“He will not be reinstated,” Mr Lee said.