Cabbie jailed after groping women
BBC Scotland
The court heard how Johnson preyed on his passengers
A taxi driver who indecently assaulted three female passengers in separate attacks after locking them in his vehicle has been jailed for 17 months.
Robert Johnston, who admitted the assaults, told Glasgow Sheriff Court he had committed the offences for "sexual gratification".
He was arrested after his victims picked him out at an identity parade.
Sheriff Charles McFarlane told the father-of-two: "This was a gross breach of trust on your part."
Women should not expect for this to happen when they get into a taxi
Sheriff Charles McFarlane
Johnston, 42, of Anchor Crescent, Paisley, had admitted the three assaults when he appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court in September.
When he returned to the dock on Friday his lawyer urged the judge to refrain from locking him up.
But in jailing Johnston, Sheriff McFarlane said: "Women should not expect for this to happen when they get into a taxi. The gravity of these offences means prison is the only option."
The incidents occurred within five days of each other late last year.
Locked in
The first assault took place near the 25-year-old victim's home in the early hours of 28 November.
After paying Johnston she found she was locked in.
The court heard that Johnston came to open the door and as the woman tried to get out he suddenly put his arm round her shoulder and groped her breast.
John Slowey, prosecuting, told the court: "She shouted at him 'what do you think you are doing' before he eventually let her go and she walked home to contact police."
A short time later, a 28-year-old woman was subjected to a similar attack outside her flat. She was pushed backwards into the taxi after being indecently assaulted, but managed to kick herself free and run home.
On 3 December Johnston collected a 32-year-old woman from the city's Hilton Hotel.
Licence revoked
Fiscal Mr Slowey said: "As she later stepped out of the cab at her house, the accused put his hand down her top and squeezed her left breast.
"She shouted at him, but Johnston claimed that he was only trying to get her out of his taxi."
Johnston, who had been a driver for 18 years, was later identified by all three victims and confessed to the attacks. His licence was revoked by Glasgow City Council.
The accused - who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome - a form of autism - claimed he committed the offences for "sexual gratification", but was sorry for the ordeal the women had to suffer.
The court heard that the conviction had a "devastating" effect on his life and that he no longer lived with his wife and two daughters.
He was placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.
Source: BBC Scotland
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4493280.stm
I am still a taxi driver occasionally so this is close to home. I don't want perverts like this driving taxis. BUT I wonder if 17 months in jail is the answer? The main thing is to keep him out of work in which he has this temptation and try to counsel him into improving his social behavior. I doubt if any more time in prison will improve his social behavior at all.
This person has problems and his AS does not excuse him at all but is the situation being handled correctly?
Jerry Newport
There was no need to mention in the report that he had AS. Its just an irrelevant piece of information that was inserted into the report - and there will be some who will make an association because of that.
It is very likely that either his own defence counsel introduced his ASD into the evidence by way of mitigation, (with a view to reducing responsibility for his actions) or that the judge had ordered social reports prior to sentencing, which would be quite usual in such a case.
This is the problem we always face when analysing media reports: we know nothing more than we have read in the papers, and must ever be aware that the validity of whatever conclusions we draw will always be limited by the very partial, incomplete and pre-selected nature of our sources.
Stella
I have just e mailed the BBC News room asking them why they included Mr Johnston diagnoses of Aspergers when it had nothing to do with the case.
I look forward to reading the reply.
Amy, I thought Colin was saying that a lot of ADHD men (rather than aspies) had problems with sexual impulse control, but however it was intended, it's a gross and unfair generalization, and one that could be very dangerous to anyone with neurological differences.
Colin, do you want to live in a world where you are feared, shunned, and treated as a potential sex offender every time you look at a woman? Because that's where attitudes like that will lead.
Firstly, I meant to say I don't condone is behaviour on his victims. Is that clear now.
There is evidence within DANDA and NAS of cases like this and also this has been researched by Professor Digby Tantam and is also currently being researched by Luke Beardon, at Autism Research Unit, at University of Sheffield and Hallam.
I have had a go at both of them for this and I get really angry when I read these stories, then they equate is to being a male ND probem only, instead of seeing the 'reality' and seeing for what it is, as a problem with a lot of men in our society, both ND's and NT's.
My concerns are that there are a lot of ND's who have not been given any sexual education and counselling at all within their lifecourses and this is very common with all disabled children and adults, especially those with LD's. There are many ND's with LD's on the ASD's.
I know that many ND's with ADHD have great problems with poor sexual impulse control.
No, I don't want to see 'criminal behaviour 'equated with ND's, but research clearly states that there are a higher proportion of ND's, up to 70% within the prisons and young offenders institutes within the CJS, why is this? This has come from DANDA, National Autistic Society and Dyspraxia Foundation and others...
Why are ND's coming under the 'medical/criminalisation gaze' all the time?
It's like looking for a 'needle in a haystack', if you keep looking, then you'll find it.
I agree with all the rationale researcher around that ND's are not more likey to become criminals, but as I said all our behaviour is being subjected to 'research', under the microscope all the time, why? When is someone going to do research ito the criminal behaviour of NT's?
No, and I have not sexually-assaulted any women myself as been 'implied'!!
I have seen a few things written on Aspies and criminal behavior. We may choose to deny this but I use it as a warning to keep myself out of trouble.
Box 5 Characteristic features of Asperger syndrome that predispose to criminal offending
An innate lack of concern for the outcome can result in, for example, an assault that is disproportionately intense and damaging. Individuals often lack insight and deny responsibility, blaming someone else; this may be part of an inability to see their inappropriate behaviour as others see it.
An innate lack of awareness of the outcome that allows individuals to embark on actions with unforeseen consequences; for example, fire-setting may result in a building’s destruction, and assault in death.
Impulsivity, sometimes violent, can be a component of comorbid ADHD or of anxiety turning into panic.
Social naïvety and the misinterpretation of relationships can leave the individual open to exploitation as a stooge. Their limited emotional knowledge can lead to a childish approach to adult situations and relationships, resulting, for example, in the mistaking of social attraction or friendship for love.
Misinterpreting rules, particularly social ones, individuals find themselves unwittingly embroiled in offences such as date rape.
Difficulty in judging the age of others can lead the person into illegal relationships and acts such as sexual advances to somebody under age.
Overriding obsessions can lead to offences such as stalking or compulsive theft. Admonition can increase anxiety and consequently a ruminative thinking of the unthinkable that increases the likelihood of action.
In formal interviews, misjudging relationships and consequences can permit an incautious frankness and the disclosure of private fantasies which, although no more lurid than any adolescent’s, are best not revealed.
Lacking motivation to change, individuals may remain stuck in a risky pattern of behaviour.
http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/5/341
I see that DANDA includes "Oppositional Defiant Disorder" in its "neurodiverse" constituency.
The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders
World Health Organization, Geneva, 1992
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F91.3 Oppositional Defiant Disorder
This type of conduct disorder is characteristically seen in children below the age of 9 or 10 years. It is defined by the presence of markedly defiant, disobedient, provocative behaviour and by the absence of more severe dissocial or aggressive acts that violate the law or the rights of others. The disorder requires that the overall criteria for F91 be met: even severely mischievous or naughty behaviour is not in itself sufficient for diagnosis. Many authorities consider that oppositional defiant patterns of behaviour represent a less severe type of conduct disorder, rather than a qualitatively distinct type. Research evidence is lacking on whether the distinction is qualitative or quantitative. However, findings suggest that, in so far as it is distinctive, this is true mainly or only in younger children. Caution should be employed in using this category, especially in the case of older children. Clinically significant conduct disorders in older children are usually accompanied by dissocial or aggressive behaviour that go beyond defiance, disobedience, or disruptiveness, although, not infrequently, they are preceded by oppositional defiant disorders at an earlier age. The category is included to reflect common diagnostic practice and to facilitate the classification of disorders occurring in young children.
Diagnostic Guidelines
The essential feature of this disorder is a pattern of persistently negativistic, hostile, defiant, provocative, and disruptive behaviour,
which is clearly outside the normal range of behaviour for a child of the same age in the same sociocultural context, and which does not include the more serious violations of the rights of others as reflected in the aggressive and dissocial behaviour specified for categories F91.0 and F91.2. Children with this disorder tend frequently and actively to defy adult requests or rules and deliberately to annoy other people. Usually they tend to be angry, resentful, and easily annoyed by other people whom they blame for their own mistakes or difficulties. They generally have a low frustration tolerance and readily lose their temper. Typically, their defiance has a provocative quality, so that they initiate confrontations and generally exhibit excessive levels of rudeness, uncooperativeness, and resistance to authority.
Frequently, this behaviour is most evident in interactions with adults or peers whom the child knows well, and signs of the disorder may not be evident during a clinical interview.
The key distinction from other types of conduct disorder is the absence of behaviour that violates the law and the basic rights of others, such as theft, cruelty, bullying, assault, and destructiveness. The definite presence of any of the above would exclude the diagnosis. However, oppositional defiant behaviour, as outlined in the paragraph above, is often found in other types of conduct disorder. If another type (F91.0-F91.2) is present, it should be coded in preference to oppositional defiant disorder.
Excludes:
* conduct disorders including overtly dissocial or aggressive behaviour (F91.0-F91.2)
Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 1998;35(4):293-9.
Aggression and sexual offense in Asperger's syndrome.
Kohn Y, Fahum T, Ratzoni G, Apter A.
Psychiatry Department, Hadassah University Hospital, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel.
Asperger's Syndrome is one of the diagnostic subcategories of pervasive developmental disorders. It is characterized by a defect in reciprocal social interaction, lack of empathy for others and poor non-verbal communication. Antisocial acts, including aggression and sexual offense, are not considered to be common in this disorder. We describe an adolescent with Asperger's Syndrome whose main problems are his violence and sexual offenses. We assume that these symptoms are secondary to his diagnosis of Asperger's as a manifestation of his difficulties with the "theory of mind" of others. This atypical case report is in contrast with the low prevalence of aggression and sexual offense in Asperger's, as reported in the literature. We discuss the reasons for this low prevalence. Our conclusions are based on one case history and a literature review. We call for further research in this field.
Publication Types:
Case Reports
PMID: 9988987
Med Sci Law. 2002 Jul;42(3):237-44.
Case history of co-morbid Asperger's syndrome and paraphilic behaviour.
Milton J, Duggan C, Latham A, Egan V, Tantam D.
East Midlands Centre for Forensic Mental Health, Arnold Lodge, Cordelia Close, Leicester LE5 0LE. John.Milton@arnoldl.cnhc-tr.trent.nhs.uk
We report a case of a man with Asperger's syndrome, paraphilic behaviour and convictions for sexual offences. We describe his assessment within a secure mental health setting to determine issues of diagnosis, treatment and risk. We also highlight the difficulty in reducing the risk of further offending because of the apparent ineffectiveness of interventions for the small group with Asperger's syndrome and an offending history. Consequently, they are likely to face long periods in institutional settings.
Publication Types:
Case Reports
PMID: 12201069
Here is the reply I got from the BBC News department in Scotland when I asked why the report even mentioned the accused was an aspie
Thanks you for your e-mail.
We are entitled to report all court proceedings provided there is no restriction
in terms of a statute or an order in court. It was mentioned by Mr Johnson's own
defence, on several occasions, that he suffered from Asperger's Syndrome. I
understand from the reporter who was in court that this was offered as part of
the defence's plea in mitigation. His legal team also wanted the court to bear
in mind that he would require treatment in prison in the event of a custodial
sentence.
Best wishes,
Mick McGlinchey,
Assistant Editor,
BBC Scotland news website.
It worries me that his Aspergers was used as part of the defence.
I have no problems with poor sexual impulses and as an single nd man I do like to have 'norma'l sex with women and women don't disgust me.
No comment.
Jerry
Would you say the same about a non-asperger guy in the same situation? (i.e. counseling, not jail as the approach to take)?
Yes, I would. In fact, the psychologist who advised me to see "Rain Man" in 1989 is an exceptionally attractive woman, who spent a decade counseling men with offenses from this to rape, wife-battering etc. She would support me in saying that prison rarely helps change attitudes for the better.
I think in the case of rape and more serious crimes agains women, there must be some jail time but that is because punishment is deserved, whether it helps change the attitude or not. But for groping? I think counseling should be the first option with a minimum of jail time if any.
Jerry Newport
Professor Patricia Howlin
I got diagnosed by her along time ago in the early 90's
Shame she will only do diagnosis in special cases now