1 week Ago By [email protected] (Sean McPolin)
A dad-of-two racially abused an Asian taxi driver before urinating in his cab after a booze-filled day out. Charlie Brown made several comments to Khyam Bahadu Thapa about his “slanty” eyes while being taken from Matches Sports Bar in Ashford to Maidstone town centre back in 2023. The 38-year-old denied two charges of racially aggravated harassment and criminal damage but was found guilty by three magistrates in Sevenoaks.
During the two hour trial, the court heard how Brown, of Whitby Close, Snodland , accepted he made the “silly and immature” comments on October 26, but declared they “weren’t racist” but were just descriptive words. Brown had compared them to being called “tubby” by Mr Thapa in a statement to police after the incident. Giving evidence, the taxi driver, who is of Nepalese and Filipino heritage, said he picked Brown and a friend up at around 10.
30pm before stopping at a BP garage where they arranged a £70 fee, to be paid up front, for him to take the pair to Maidstone. Footage from the vehicle, played during a court hearing last Wednesday (April 2), heard Brown say: “Not being funny, but is it because you have slanty eyes?” In a second video, which was taken after the vehicle left the garage, he again addresses Mr Thapa and says: “Is that because your eyes are all slanty?” These comments left Mr Thapa, who had been working as a taxi driver for Ashford Borough Council, feeling “deeply hurt”. He told magistrates he questioned why he was being abused for “doing his job like everyone else”.
“In my three years of working, no one has ever directly insulted me in that way,” he explained. “I was so shocked I didn’t know how to react.” In an attempt to avoid escalating things, Mr Thapa carried on with the fare and described how a mile-and-a-half down the road, Brown grabbed his shoulder as he was driving, prompting him to warn the pair if it happened again he would stop the car.
A little while down the road, on the M20 towards Maidstone, Brown asked the driver to stop so he could urinate but Mr Thapa explained he was taking them directly to the town centre and there wasn’t a safe space to stop. Another half-a-mile down the road, this time near Junction 9, the cabbie heard a seatbelt being unfastened in the back seat and a warning light pop up. “Just after that I heard something flowing.
I turned back and realised he was peeing in the car,” he told the court. Immediately, the car was pulled over to the side of the road with its hazards on and Mr Thapa exited the car. When he opened the rear side passenger door he saw Brown holding his penis and asked him to get out.
A video of the incident heard the driver shout “oh my god” before loud shouts can be heard between all the parties. Later in the footage, Mr Thapa can be heard telling the two he was calling police, to which Brown replies: “I just want to go home. Please, please, please.
” When asked in court why he rang the police, the driver said: “I felt frightened at that point and that they might attack me. I felt in danger and rang 999.” Brown admitted he had sunk “a few pints” that day having been on a golf day with others and “following business leads”.
He was also accused of saying to the driver: “We’re buzzing to be in a taxi with this rickety piece of s***.” Brown denies this was targeted at Mr Thapa or his car, but was a joke he and the other passenger had always shared. Giving evidence, the heating engineer and plumber said: “I made a silly, immature comment about slanty eyes.
I didn’t mean anything by it. “I don’t see it as a racist comment. He called me chubby in his statement - it’s just a description.
” Mitigating, Peter Fernando, said Brown had asked to use the toilet but was ignored by the driver. During his police interview Brown told officers the whole situation was out of character for him and he was “so intoxicated” he couldn’t remember what happened. He added: “I’m anything but racist.
It makes no odds to me what race you are. I’m not like that.” The court later heard he had a caution for racially aggravated disorder more than 10 years ago.
When asked by prosecutor Ms Harry whether he intentionally urinated on the taxi floor, Brown said: “It wasn’t on purpose. It felt like a balloon which was going to explode. I’m embarrassed I wet myself at that age.
” He said his comments to Mr Thapa were deeply offensive, but didn’t agree they were racist. Mr Thapa had to pay £358 for the carpet in the car to be changed and one of the vents after Brown urinated in the AC vent. After 30 minutes of deliberation, Brown was found guilty of both offences by magistrates.
He was ordered to undergo 150 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12-month community order. The plumber must pay £588.40 in compensation to Mr Thapa, a £114 surcharge and costs of £650 - meaning he must pay £1,352.
40 in total..
