Robert Croucher, 35, has been jailed for beating up an Uber driver. The businessman reportedly cried in court and begged to not be sent to prison saying it would ruin his life. "This will destroy my life, I am the director of a company, and everyone would lose their jobs. We have 1000 clients, we have staff all around the country, and it would die," Croucher cried.
However, magistrate Sandra Blandford stood firm on her decision and asked him to "get used to life being different" while jailing him for 20 weeks. She said, "Your behaviour was unacceptable. We find that you did kick Mr Mohammad Hussein a number of times while he was on the floor, and one of those kicks was to the head."
Croucher was at private members' club Raffles on Kings Road, Chelsea, with his girlfriend where kicked Hussein 20 times, including kicking to the head, as he lay on the floor. Describing the incident, the driver said, "A lady got into the cab, a man threw his bag in. I refused because I got scared because the gentleman suddenly got angry, something happened between them and he harshly slammed the door. I got out to open the door, and then the gentleman took the keys from through the window. He then slapped me. I was begging for my keys and he suddenly pushed me on the pavement. He has just kicked me in several parts of my body and head."
A staffmember of the club filmed the incident, showing Croucher slapping Hussein and shooting insults at the staff, before he threw the keys down the street. Hussein said, "My head was very swollen, I went to hospital where I stayed for four hours. I went to my GP a few days later and got prescribed antibiotics, it was severe pain." The director insisted he only slapped the driver, but it was found he had kicked him in the head as well. Blandford said, "The CCTV evidence was compelling. We saw the slap, and the security guards saying call the police. We saw the urgency in which they ran over shouting no need to kick him in the head."
The magistrate added, "This is a very serious offence, only a custodial sentence can be justified." Croucher has been jailed for 20 weeks, ordered to pay £620 costs, a £115 victim surcharge, and pay Hussain £500 in compensation.
