Woman jailed for ten weeks after racist rant at taxi driver in Northampton

A drunken woman who launched a racist tirade at a Nigerian taxi driver during a ride home in Northampton has been jailed for ten weeks.

Louise Flannery, 43, and a male friend were being picked up from St Giles Street to an address in Malcolm Close on May 22, 2023, when an argument broke out about the driver's route.

Shocking mobile phone footage showed the mother-of-two in the back of the car, noticeably drunk and swearing at the driver as her male friend stood locked outside the vehicle.

She was heard to say "this pr*** is clearly an illegal immigrant" and "you can say goodbye to your visa".

A previous hearing at Northampton Crown Court on February 8 had to be adjourned because Flannery was too inebriated to enter the court. She pleaded guilty to causing racially aggravated fear or provocation of violence.

In mitigation, it was heard Ms Flannery was being treated with anti-depressants at the time and suffers from alcohol dependency, as well as complex family matters.

Passing sentence, Recorder Shamim Qureshi said he would be "failing in his public duty" if he not send her to prison.

He told Flannery: "You were pretty well asleep during the journey, having consumed alcohol after a heavy lunch with your friend.

"Whatever the rights or wrongs of the journey, there's a civil way to deal with such a dispute. Things got out of hand."

The court heard that the pair had been sat in the back, and Ms Flannery went to sleep on her friend's lap. After a short distance of driving, she woke up and an argument broke out over the route the taxi driver was taking.

The driver stopped the vehicle abruptly and after the male passenger exited the vehicle, he locked the doors.

Recorder Qureshi said: "You were locked in the car for a period of time but it's quite clear [the victim] was not doing anything apart from recording the incident.

"The racial abuse comes from yourself... you make the first reference to 'illegal immigrant'... from that, a reference to his visa and reference thereafter of 'go back to Ghana'.

"It's the easiest thing in the world to pick on somebody's colour when getting upset about something."

The judge described how the abuse carried on even after Flannery got out of the vehicle. The pair eventually flagged down a passing motorist who drove them away before police arrived.

In an impact statement, the victim said he had lived in Ireland and England for the past 25 years and had been a taxi driver for about five years, supporting his four children.

He said: "The incident left me feeling incredibly vulnerable and reduced to tears. I'm not embarrassed to say when police arrived I was crying in my taxi.

"I need to block out the hurt as I need to earn a living. Nobody should have to put up with this type of abuse."

He added he felt "completely humiliated" by the pair.

Reflecting on the victim's comments, the judge added: "The reality is, why does it need to be said in the first place? Why does the victim need to get over it? Somebody who's lived here for 25 years is as much a local person as anybody else."

He said Flannery will serve half of her ten week sentence with the rest spent on licence, along with £250 compensation to the victim.

A defence application for bail ahead of a sentencing appeal was refused.