AN APPRENTICE joiner who was locked up after a bizarre racist attack on a Billingham taxi driver has walked free after top judges were told he has learned his lesson.

Daniel Madden, 18, of Central Avenue, Billingham, had been drinking when he suddenly turned on cabbie Naseer Ahmed, punching and biting him as he sat in his car.

He later admitted racially aggravated assault and making off without payment and was sentenced to six months’ youth custody at Teesside Crown Court earlier this month.

But he was freed after two senior judges, Mr Justice Irwin and Mr Justice Nicol, sitting at the Court of Appeal, heard how he has reacted to being locked up. Mr Justice Nicol said the impact on Madden has already been “considerable”, he has shown genuine remorse and a desire to change the way he lives his life.

Madden was on his way home in a taxi with his girlfriend in the early hours of January 16 last year when he began misbehaving, turning up the radio and opening the window.

Mr Ahmed protested and Madden began punching him in the face. When the cabbie tried to protect himself, Madden then bit him on the head.

He leaped out of the car and ran off without paying, but was soon in the custody of police after his family called for help due to his strange behaviour.

The teenager had taken a knife and tried to self-harm, and was on the kitchen floor when officers arrived.

His lawyers told the Court of Appeal that Madden had waited a year between the offence and his sentence, and being locked up had had a serious effect on him.

Mr Justice Nicol said: “For our part, we can well understand why the recorder imposed this sentence.”

But he added: “The prison report shows that this is a case where the impact of a custodial sentence on a person who had no previous convictions, let alone experience of custody, has already been considerable.

“His remorse appears to be genuine, as does his determination to do something about drinking, which was the underlying cause of this offence.”

These factors tip the balance, he said, allowing the sentence to be quashed and replaced by a six-month suspended sentence. Madden will also do 40 hours of unpaid community work.