
A drunk street beggar who targeted a taxi rank and subjected an Asian cab driver to racist abuse while exposing himself has been sentenced at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
Robert Hooper, 51, was handed a six-month restriction of liberty order after being convicted of intentional exposure and racially aggravated abuse.
The incident unfolded around 7pm on July 14 at Queen Anne Street when Hooper, who had been drinking after a day of begging, walked past a queue of taxis.
The victim, a 49-year-old taxi driver who required a translator to give evidence, recalled sitting in his vehicle when Hooper shouted a racist slur, raised his middle finger, and then pulled down his tracksuit bottoms.
The driver stated: “He was holding and shaking it,” adding that families with children and half a dozen other cabbies were nearby at the time.
A fellow taxi driver corroborated the account, confirming he heard Hooper hurling abuse and shouting remarks such as “Suck on this”.
Hooper claimed in his defence that he was heavily intoxicated and simply trying to secure a ride home after earning £27 from begging.
He admitted to showing his middle finger and uttering the racist insult because he was annoyed the driver refused to take him as a passenger, but he denied exposing himself and insisted he was not a racist.
Sheriff William Gilchrist rejected his version of events and found him guilty.

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