A MALVERN taxi driver was attacked and subjected to racial abuse after he picked up a drunken couple.

David Hodgkins argued with Mohammed Jamil after vomiting in his cab.

He then kicked and punched the victim before he and his girlfriend Stacey Harris left the scene without paying the fare, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Hodgkins, aged 21, of Malvern Meadows caravan site, Blackmore Park, Hanley Swan, and Harris, 20, of the same address, pleaded guilty to making off without payment.

The father-of-one also admitted racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge Toby Hooper QC granted him bail while a pre-sentence report is prepared.

He fined Harris £100 and said she was on a slippery slope as she had a previous conviction for assaulting a policeman.

The couple entered guilty pleas on the day they were due to face trial by jury.

Tim Green, prosecuting, said they went out drinking in Malvern on October 6 and were picked up by Mr Jamil outside The Vaults pub at 2.30am the next morning.

Hodgkins' barrister Lee Marklew said he had no previous convictions. The judge banned him from entering any taxi in Worcestershire before sentencing.

Graeme Simpson, for Harris, said she had a two-year-old daughter and the couple only went out twice a month because they relied on job seekers' allowances and child credit.