Drunken thief admits stealing from Wisbech taxi boss and Fenland councillor

A DRUNKEN thief who stole more than �100 from Wisbech taxi boss and Fenland councillor Dave Patrick is to be assessed for alcohol treatment.

Perry Bird helped himself to the cash when he climbed into Cllr Patrick’s cab - and the money scattered to the ground as he ran off from the Horsefair taxi rank.

Bird, 21, of Savory Road, Wisbech, had earlier denied stealing from Mr Patrick, chairman of the Wisbech and District Hackney Carriage Drivers’ Association. But this week Bird changed his plea and admitted the offence.

“Cllr Patrick had been on a job to Peterborough and had put some cash into a pot under his seat,” prosecutor Scheherazade Haque told Fenland magistrates.

“At the Horsefair taxi rank Bird got into the front passenger seat of his taxi, but was told it was not for him.

“As he left the vehicle, money fell out of his pocket. Another taxi driver had seen Bird lean to the driver’s side of the vehicle while he was inside the taxi.”

Both Cllr Patrick and another taxi driver had told Bird he was dropping money, but he kept walking away. Mr Patrick realised that about �120 had gone missing.

Mitigating, solicitor John McKanna said Bird had been drunk at the time of the offence. He had not admitted his guilt immediately because he had been in court just a few days before the offence.

The court adjourned sentencing for four weeks.