Two removal men from England working in Denmark have been remanded in custody by a court in Frederiksberg until 5 May, accused of beating up a taxi driver in Copenhagen on Saturday night.
The men got into a dispute with the driver over the price of their taxi ride. A verbal argument escalated, and both men are charged with punching and kicking the driver.
“We argued about the price of the taxi ride,” one of the defendants, Steven, 51, told the court.
“It said 70 kroner on the meter, but he asked for 100 kroner. He called me an ‘ugly, stupid Englishman’, so I asked him if he wanted to step outside the taxi …and then I hit him.”
Mover claims self-defence
Meanwhile, Steven’s co-defendant, Ben, 27, said he only struck the driver in self-defence.
“I tried to separate the parties and the driver him me in the face, so I hit him.”
Both men denied kicking the driver.
READ MORE: Second man arrested for beating taxi driver to death
The prosecution alleged that when the police arrived, Steven was hitting the driver. A witness said Steven held the driver down while Ben kicked him, and that Steven then held the driver down while Ben hit him between 5 and 10 times.
