ONE of a trio of taxi drivers who beat up a drunk passenger after he refused to pay his fare has been jailed.

Robert Haydon, 53, of Bourton Close, Witney, was jailed for the brutal and 'sustained' assault occasioning actual bodily harm on Kevin Headley for 12 months at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

He was also jailed for a further four months for perverting the course of justice by lying to police resulting in his arrest.

The attack, which involved fellow cabbies Samantha Mundy, 31, of Gassons Way, Lechlade-On-Thames, and Robert Simons, 34, of Panters Close, Cholsey, took place outside the Churchill Court Hotel, Long Hanborough on June 5 last year.

Mr Headley, who had been picked up by Mundy from Eynsham, refused to pay the £35 fare when they arrived at the hotel.

He became 'aggressive and obnoxious' according to Recorder Patrick Hamlin, and Mundy called for help from her fellow taxi drivers using her radio.

When Haydon and Simons joined the fray what followed was a 25-minute long assault on Mr Headley involving repeated punches and kicks, including three 'particularly forceful' blows to the gut by Haydon.

For her part Mundy was given a 6-month prison sentence, consecutive with a further 4 months for perverting the course of justice, suspended for 18 months. She must also carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. Simons was made subject to a community order to include 100 hours of unpaid work.