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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Vic Rodrick

West Lothian minicab driver asked female passenger to flash him on Asda trip

A pervert minicab driver asked a female passenger to flash her private parts at him, a court heard.

The woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, said John McIndoer told her: “Show us your t**s and f***y” during an excruciatingly embarrassing journey home from a nightclub.

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She gave evidence that the accused flattered her and complimented her on her curves after she got into his private hire taxi outside Grand Central in Livingston, West Lothian.

He continued to make offensive remarks during the 10-15 minute journey from the nightclub in the Deans area of the West Lothian town to the Asda superstore at Livingston Centre on 10 March 2019.

McIndoer, 35, of Blackburn, West Lothian, had denied repeatedly uttering sexual remarks to the woman and requesting that she expose her breasts and genitals.

However, he was found guilty after trial at Livingston Sheriff Court last month.

Despite protesting his innocence, he returned to court to be sentenced on Thursday with a baseball cap pulled down over his brow and a bandana pulled up to his eyes to avoid being identified.

Darryl Lovie, defending, said McIndoer still maintained his innocence but accepted that the court had found him guilty of a serious sexual offence.

Mr Lovie said the accused was willing to resign from his current shift work if necessary to obey any community order that the court imposed, such as a home curfew.

He added: “Unpaid work can be fitted around his existing employment. The social work report seems to be suggesting any intervention for supervision would be at a low level but there are aspects that could be considered as being in the public interest.

“I accept that the offence itself is serious, but the absence of any previous convictions or any further offending since March 2019 will no doubt be in his favour.”

Sheriff John MacRitchie told him: “While I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever as to your guilt in this matter I listened to the evidence.

“It’s a matter for you whether you wake up to the reality of what took place on that particular evening.

“It’s not a serious offence, but not the most serious offence that this court would deal with on a summary complaint therefore somewhere in the middle.”

He added: “Because you’re a first offender you don’t breach the levels of your liberty being removed which is what would occur if it was more serious.”

He imposed a community payback order comprising social work supervision for 12 months to deal with the accused’s perceived issues and 150 hours of unpaid work within the same time period.

In addition, the sheriff told McIndoer his name would remain on the sex offenders’ register for a year as a result of what he accepted was a “one-off aberration”.

A spokesman for West Lothian Council's taxi licensing division said McIndoer's private hire car driver's licence had been suspended in March 2019 due to the allegations of criminal conduct .

"The suspended licence expired in April 2020 and he never re-applied to renew it."

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