Man who tried to choke taxi driver with seatbelt is jailed

A man who placed a seatbelt around a taxi driver’s neck and tried to choke him as he drove down a slip road onto a motorway has been jailed for one year.

The man, Mihail Coptu (46), jumped out of the taxi as it was still moving after the 70-year-old taxi driver managed to free himself. Gardaí later restrained Coptu as he walked near the motorway.

Coptu, of Oak Drive, Royal Oak, Santry, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to endangerment and obstruction of a garda at the M1 motorway on March 17th, 2016.

Coptu has 23 previous convictions, including for criminal damage and road traffic and public order offences.

Noting that Coptu was drunk at the time of the incident, Judge Martin Nolan said in the court on Friday: "This is a country of freedom. You can drink as much as you want, but what you cannot do is break the criminal law."

He said the offence was too serious for a non-custodial sentence and he imposed a one-year jail term.

Garda Gerard Mullarkey had told Maddie Grant BL, prosecuting, that the taxi driver had picked up Coptu at an address in Santry at 9.20pm on the date in question and was asked by two others to take him to Blanchardstown. Coptu sat in the back directly behind the driver.

As the taxi turned onto the slip road leading onto the M1 motorway, Coptu stood up. He grabbed the seatbelt, placed it around the driver’s neck and tried to choke him. During the struggle, the taxi driver managed to free himself by pulling the seatbelt over his head.

Coptu then fell backwards, before opening his door and exiting the car as it was still moving down the slip road.

Gardaí were alerted about a man walking on the road in the M1/M50 area. They located Coptu on the slip road. He appeared unsteady on his feet and disorientated.

Coptu had to be physically restrained before being placed into the back of a Garda car. He kicked out at Mr Mullarkey' s seat as the garda was driving the car to Ballymun Garda station.

Coptu was initially unfit to be interviewed. He later said he had no memory of the events in the taxi or on the road. He said he was surprised and couldn’t believe he had done such a stupid thing.

Victim impact statement

A victim impact statement which was handed into court described how the taxi driver, who had been in the business for 23 years, was out of work for three weeks after the incident and incurred the financial expense of installing a screen between the driver’s seat and the back of his taxi.

Mr Mullarkey agreed with Barry Ward BL, defending, that Coptu had not been in trouble since and was not an ongoing problem for gardaí.

Mr Ward told the judge that drink had been the genesis of this behaviour and submitted that the offences were an aberration in terms of his client’s ordinary behaviour.

Mr Ward said his client offered his apology and regretted what had happened.