Officer denies racist remark

Officer denies racist remark
Mar 20 2007


By Rod Minchin, The Journal


A drunken police officer used racist language against an Asian taxi driver in a dispute over a fare, a court was told yesterday.
PC Chris Brass, 35, is accused of racially abusing Hackney carriage driver Adil Sharif.

The off duty Northumbria Police officer was on a night out just days before Christmas 2005 when he allegedly called Mr Sharif a "f*****g greedy p***".

Prosecutor Michael Rose told Sunderland Magistrates' Court that the dispute arose from an argument over a taxi fare.

Mr Sharif had picked up a drunken PC Brass in the early hours of December 22 from Newcastle city centre and was taking him to Hexham, Northumberland - a distance of 22 miles.


The PC had drunk about seven pints during the previous evening and had flagged down the taxi in Pilgrim Street at about 1am to take him home to Hexham.


Magistrates were told that when he got to the town's High Street he offered Mr Sharif just £15 for the £45 fare.


The police officer then went to a cashpoint near Dontino's nightclub but claimed it was not working and offered the £15 again.


To try to settle the dispute, Mr Sharif took PC Brass - not knowing at this point that he was a police officer - to the local police station.


It was while at Hexham police station that the off duty officer is accused of abusing Mr Sharif.


Mr Rose said: "Mr Brass said to Mr Sharif: `You're just a f*****g greedy p*** and you are not going to get any of this.'"


The court was told that no one else heard PC Brass say this, apart from the taxi driver.


The officer was subsequently arrested for being drunk and disorderly by an on duty police sergeant, the court heard.


"During interview he denied using any racist language but admitted there had been a heated discussion about what the taxi fare could be," Mr Rose told the court. Giving evidence, Mr Sharif, who lives in Newcastle, described to magistrates what happened when he picked up PC Brass.


"You could clearly tell he was intoxicated. He seemed to be on a bit of a power trip," he said. "I thought he was very authoritative with the directions."


The taxi driver said that when PC Brass only offered £15 for the fare, he told him he would take him to the police station.


"He seemed pretty amused by this," the father-of-one told the court.


Outside the police station Sergeant Martin Abbott spoke to PC Brass and he maintained he was disputing the fare and would only pay £15.


Mr Sharif said that while Sgt Abbott briefly returned to the police station, PC Brass racially abused him.


He told the court: "When the sergeant returned he said to him: `You cannot talk to him like that. You're not on duty now.'


"You could tell he had an attitude. I couldn't believe the way he was speaking to the sergeant, who is a higher rank.


"In the end he had to arrest him."


PC Brass, who has been suspended from duty since the incident, denies a racially aggravated public order offence and being drunk and disorderly.


Defence counsel Ronald Mitchell asked Mr Sharif about an incident that had taken place about a month before these allegations.


His wife had been stopped by a security guard in a Newcastle store accused of shoplifting.


Mrs Sharif had called her husband and he had gone to the shop to try to sort it out.


Mr Mitchell said that while there the taxi driver told police that "all police officers are racist".


He asked Mr Sharif: "You are making up these allegations against Mr Brass because you are of the view that all police are racist and you found out he was a police officer." Mr Sharif denied this and maintained he had nothing personal against the police. The case was adjourned until today.