Posted on the 14th November 2025 in PHTM News
BARROW MAN JAILED AFTER RACIALLY ABUSING TAXI DRIVER AND UNPROVOKED PUB ASSAULT
A Barrow man, Joshua Hardie, has been sentenced to 30 weeks in prison after admitting to racially abusing a taxi driver and an unprovoked assault on a pub worker.
Hardie, 24, pleaded guilty at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court on November 10 to a Section 4a Public Order Act offence and assault by beating.
The court heard that on November 7, 2024, Hardie targeted a taxi driver of Turkish origin who refused to take a female passenger.
Prosecutor Lee Dacre stated: “The defendant took exception to this and shouted a racist term at the man.” Hardie then opened the door and told the driver, “‘You are taking her’,” and “‘I’m going to punch you in the face’.” Mr. Dacre confirmed that “Fortunately, there was not any violence.”
The assault charge related to a separate incident nearly a year later, on October 23, 2025, at The Meeting Place in Barrow. Hardie punched an off-duty staff member after first asking for the manager and saying: “‘I am going to kill him. He has ruined my life and nearly got me sent to prison’.”
Mr. Dacre reported: “The defendant punched the man in the face without any provocation,” leaving the victim “bleeding next to his eye and he sustained swelling and a graze.”
The assault placed Hardie in breach of a 36-week suspended prison sentence imposed on April 30, 2025, for a previous “violent, unprovoked attack” on the manager of the same venue, The Meeting Place. That previous attack resulted in the manager being treated with “eight stitches” and being left with permanent scarring.
Defence solicitor Michael Graham offered mitigation, saying Hardie “acknowledges and appreciates the position he is in today.” Regarding the taxi incident, Graham claimed it arose because the driver “was accusing his mother of being drunk. He overreacted because she has mobility issues.”
For the recent assault, he noted it “was one single blow after the suspended sentence was imposed. As soon as it started, it had finished.”
Magistrates activated part of the suspended sentence for 24 weeks and imposed an additional six weeks for the newest offences, leading to a total jail term of 30 weeks.
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