Cabbie denies danger driving rap

Trial told his vehicle hit man after taxi rank row

An OAP cabbie mowed down a pedestrian during a taxi rank row, a court has heard.

Jim Corbett, 73, is charged with repeatedly mounting the pavement before careering into Christopher Flannigan.

Prosecutors claim he hit the lad after the pair began rowing and he “lost the rag”.

Corbett denied dangerous driving during a trial at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Blair Dalgleish, 24, explained how he climbed into the back of the hackney after a night out and insists he saw the driver hit the man.

On Tuesday, he told the court: “I went to get some of my pals. They were at The Lane.

“We walked round to the taxi rank.

“There was an argument between a taxi driver and a boy.

“As we approached to get in the taxi, we were refused because he thought we were with that boy.

“He let us in when he realised we weren’t.

“We were sitting in the back and the argument continued between the driver and the boy.

“The driver got out the taxi and ran towards the boy, and the boy ran away.

“The driver got back in, but the argument continued.

“The driver put his foot on the accelerator. “The boy jumped out the way. “He went to drive away, and the boy kicked the passenger side door.

“The taxi mounted the kerb and hit the boy. “He hit the ground. “The taxi reversed and the boy got up. I could see he was hobbling.

“He drove towards the lights under the bridge and asked where we were going as if nothing had happened.

“I couldn’t get my head around it at the time.”

Corbett is accused of repeatedly mounting the kerb at the rank at County Square.

CCTV footage played to the court showed the pink cab with Paisley 2021 branding veer towards the lad.

It then circled around and mounted the pavement next to the shelter shortly before 2am on August 28 last year.

Corbett was quizzed by police, who were treating the incident as attempted murder.

They stopped him after he returned to pick up more passengers later on the same night.

He told detectives he had tried to “chase” Flannigan away with the car because he had tried to steal a bike locked against some railings.

Corbett gave evidence in his own defence and claimed he became angry when his motor was kicked during the spat.

He said: “I came into the rank and I saw a young lad trying to steal a bike or wreck a bike. He was battering it off the railings.

“I stopped and put my window down and said something along the lines of, ‘The chap maybe coming off the train needs that for his work’.

“He ran over and kicked the car and spat on me.

“I was protecting myself and the car.

“Never mind dangerous driving, never mind careless driving, what I did was stupid driving.”

Corbett insisted the cab was kicked “seven or eight” times and he feared there could have been damage costing thousands of pounds.

But an automotive engineer told how there was little to no damage on the car.

The court was also shown dash cam footage which showed Corbett race towards the lad before mounting the pavement.

Flannigan can be seen disappearing from shot in front of the motor.

Sheriff Tom McCartney adjourned the case against Corbett, of Stoney Brae, Paisley.

The trial continues.