Woman in court over abuse of Muslim officer and damage to car

The Daily Record reports on the delay in the sentencing of a woman who racially abused a Muslim police officer and caused extensive damage to a taxi.

Carolann Chisholm, 37, pleaded guilty to three charges for racially aggravated threatening and abusive behaviour likely to cause fear and alarm, assault and causing damage to a private hire vehicle, in connection with an incident in January.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard Chisholm “lost the plot” during a taxi journey from Brodie Park to Linwood Road resulting in damage to “the dashboard, multi-media system, monitor screen, door and door-handle” of the minicab in which she was travelling.

Chisholm was charged with racially abusing and assaulting Constable Moin Qureshi, after verbally abusing him and punching and spitting on him, and with damaging a Toyota Avensis mini-cab during an incident.

But Paisley Sherriff Court had to defer sentencing after a “significant discrepancy” arose between the estimates provided to cover the cost of repair to the damaged vehicle. The court heard two varying estimates, of £250 and £3,666.26, the former offered by the police and the latter by the automobile company Arnold Clark.

Sheriff Colin Pettigrew said the difference in cost of repairs would need to be in investigated, adding, “The complainer may not be in a position to be able to afford to pay for repairs.”

Chisholm is expected to appear in court again next month.