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TAXI DRIVERS AT ODDS.
Charge of Unlawful Assault.
A dispute on May 12 between two taxi
drivers sharing a rank in William-street,
Fremantle, had a sequel in the Fremantle
Police Court yesterday when one of the
men was charged with unlawful assault
on a complaint laid by the other. After
hearing the evidence, the Bench, con
sisting of Mr. H. J. Craig, S.M., and Mr.
F. E. Gibson, J.P., recorded a conviction
and fined defendant John Vodanovich
--£2, with £2/12/6 costs. Mr. F. G. Un-
mack appeared for the complainant,
Hubert Lancelot Dobinson, and defend
ant was represented by Mr. J. Dunphy.
In evidence, Dobinson said that he
kept a car in the stand opposite the
Fremantle Town Hall and he also had
another car parked in a nearby garage.
On returning to the rank on the evening
of May 12, he was met by defendant on
the footpath. Vodanovich, complainant
stated, grabbed him by the coat and
pulled him into a lane, saying: "Come
up here, you - or I'll kill you." Com-
plainant said that he told Vodanovich
to go away and not to be silly. Instead
of that he continued abusing him and
later punched him in the face and
knocked him down. Afterwards, said
complainant, Vodanovich abused him for
putting a driver off and said, "You get
home, or I,ll kill you tonight." Because
of injuries to his face when he was
knocked down complainant had to seek
medical attention two days afterwards
and also spent eight days in bed. The
assault, he claimed, was entirely unpro
voked.
To Mr. Dunphy, complainant admitted
that he had had trouble on previous oc
casions with other drivers. His weight
was about 13 stone. Vodanovich, he
thought, would be about nine stone.
Declaring that he merely punched
Dobinson in self-defence, Vodanovich said
that there had been some trouble for
some time past because of complainant's
habit of using another car in a right-of
way, enabling him to keep his car at the
head of the rank and thus prevent de
fendant from getting jobs. On the night
in question, said defendant, Dobinson
strode up to him, saying, "Get out of my
road." Complainant then struck him on
the chest. Defendant replied with a
punch in the nose which sent the other
to the ground. "Dobinson was always
trying to put one over me," he said. De
fendant said that he did not touch Dobin
son after he fell and denied having used
bad language.
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