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March 6, 2016 12:12 pm
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London Uber Driver Convicted of Road Rage, Shouting ‘Kill All the Jews’ at Orthodox Bus Driver

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avatar by Shiryn Ghermezian

Orthodox residents of Stamford Hill in north London. Photo: Wikipedia.

Orthodox residents of Stamford Hill in north London. Photo: Wikipedia.

An Uber driver in the UK was sentenced to 15 days of anger management sessions, one hundred hours of community service and a 26-week suspended sentence for shouting he would “kill all the Jews” during a road-rage incident, Britain’s ITV reported on Friday.

The incident took place in September 2014, when the driver, Rashal Miah, was stuck in traffic. He allegedly got out of his car and hurled the antisemitic epithet at an Orthodox Jewish school-bus driver in the north London district of Stamford Hill, a predominately Orthodox neighborhood.

Miah also reportedly called the bus driver “Yehudi,” the word for “Jew” in Hebrew and similarly in Arabic.

During Miah’s sentencing, Judge Murray Shanks called the driver’s behavior “horrible.”

“I accept this was mainly driven by you being wrongly angry and suffering from road rage, as well as being arrogant about what you were entitled to do on the road,” Shanks told Miah. “I hope it doesn’t indicate some underlying prejudice…If this was the other way around and Muslims were being insulted, I have a good feeling you would feel strongly. You need to understand that before you open your mouth.”

Miah was also convicted of using threatening, abusive or insulting words intending to cause fear or provoke violence, ITV reported. Two extra weeks were added because Miah arrived late to court. He has also been ordered to pay almost $1,000 in costs and a $88 surcharge.

The Uber driver’s lawyer told the court that his client does not have racist beliefs and that he understands the severity of his offense. The lawyer pleaded that the judge not sentence Miah to jail, because he is the main provider for his family.

Uber said in a released statement that Miah no longer works for the online taxi dispatch company.

“Uber does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and we were appalled to hear about this incident,” said Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber in London. “Following our own investigations and today’s conviction, we have taken the decision to stop this licensed private hire driver from using the Uber app.”

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