A fare-dodging racist threatened to slit an Aberdeen taxi driver’s throat after getting his cab home from the pub.
Robert Hodgins initially claimed he needed to nip inside to get money to pay the fare, but reacted angrily when the taxi driver buzzed at his door because he didn’t return.
The yob branded the driver a P*** and made chilling threats before going back inside and returning with two kitchen knives.
And in a separate incident, the 23-year-old swapped racist abuse for homophobic abuse, branding a reveller on Union Street a p***, tackling him to the ground and raining punches on him.
Fiscal depute Claire Stewart told Aberdeen Sheriff Court Hodgins took a taxi from the Spiders Web pub in Dyce to his home on Pittodrie Place on the evening of April 8 2023.
‘Come here and I will slit your throat’
She said: “On arriving at the locus, the driver advised the accused the fare was £17.40, to which the accused stated he didn’t have any money on him but would go and get some from his address.”
However, Hodgins failed to return and eventually the taxi driver left his vehicle to buzz on his door.
Ms Stewart said: “The accused came down and became angry, calling him a P*** and threatening to slit his throat and kill him if he did not leave.
“The accused returned to his flat and, a short time later, came down to the communal door in possession of two small kitchen knives, saying ‘come here and I will slit your throat’.”
The taxi driver phoned the police.
In a separate incident around midnight on May 5 this year, Hodgins attacked a man on Union Street after a night out.
Hodgins approached the man, a complete stranger, and began shouting and calling him a p***.
When he refused to stop, the man called the police.
Around 10 minutes later, police on Union Street spotted the men in the middle of the road.
‘These clearly are very concerning offences’
Hodgins “tackled” his victim to the ground, landing on top of him and throwing multiple punches at his head and body.
Officers quickly intervened and restrained Hodgins.
Hodgins, of Pittodrie Place, Aberdeen, pled guilty to fraudulently hiring the taxi without paying, to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, and to assault.
Defence agent Laura Gracie said: “I think it’s safe to say his offending behaviour seems to be directly linked to his consumption of alcohol.”
She added that the first offender had reduced his alcohol intake since the incidents.
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Hodgins: “These clearly are very concerning offences and both of your victims were treated in an absolutely appalling way by you during these incidents.”
The sheriff described the offences as “very unpleasant” but noted Hodgins was a first offender and that a social work report assessed him as suitable for a community sentence.
As an alternative to custody, Hodgins was ordered to be supervised for a year and to complete 140 hours of unpaid work.
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