A MAN has been given a 14-week jail term after hitting a taxi driver - because the fare was going to be higher than he thought.
Gareth Clayton, 31, knocked David Leonard to the floor and the taxi driver's glasses were knocked off and ended up down a drain, Barnsley Magistrates' Court was told.
Susan Fisher, prosecuting, said Clayton's girlfriend urged him to punch the driver after it emerged the fare was going to be higher than envisaged.
Philip Howard, defending, said: "The taxi driver said he would have to charge extra because of the number of passengers and because there was a pram. Mr Clayton agreed to pay extra.
"Mr Clayton felt the taxi driver had not behaved professionally. He hit Mr Leonard on the side of the face and he fell to the ground."
District Judge John Foster said taxi drivers were vulnerable, and said he was jailing Clayton because of the ferocity of the blow, because there had been no provocation and because of Clayton's bad record for violence and disorder.
Clayton, of Holden House, Race Street, Barnsley, admitted assault.
