...TIMES DARTFORD CABBIES ATTACKED
Several taxi drivers were assaulted in the same night in a row over fares. Two men who planned to get a taxi to Becken- ham from Dartford are alleged to have kicked one victim around the head and body, leav- ing him needing hospital treatment. The first driver was attacked after picking up two men at about 11.30pm in Dartford
Road on Tuesday Feb- ruary 16. When they argued over the fare the men allegedly assault- ed the driver before he dropped them in the town centre. Two more drivers were assaulted in similar cir- cumstances 30 min- utes later at Dartford Railway Station.
According to the Bromley Times, it is thought the same men approached the driv-
ers and argued about the fare to Beckenham before they were assaulted and suffered facial cuts and bruises. They were last cap- tured on CCTV getting on a number 96 bus. The men are white, in their late teens, between 5ft 8in and 6ft 2in. Both wore blue jeans, black jackets and white trainers. Call 01474 366089 with information.
EXMOUTH DRIVER ATTACKED AT RANK
Taxi driver Steve Glover’s car was attacked while he sat inside. Mr Glover, who runs Steve’s Taxis, was at Exmouth’s Strand rank when a man repeatedly kicked and punched his car. He has now criticised police for not taking a statement from him or giving him a crime ref- erence number until two days after the inci- dent.
Mr Glover, who has
been an Exmouth taxi driver for 18 years, said he asked the attacker to go to a cash machine to get some money before he could accept the fare. He told the Exeter Express and Echo: “He kicked and punched the door and window on my side of the car. I told him I was unable to take him anywhere as I had a booking and drove off. “He followed me and
had another go, this time at the passenger door,then he ran off. “I followed him and called 999, giving them a running com- mentary.
He said: “The police called me back after 7pm on Saturday to say they couldn’t find him and that was it.” Sergeant Karl Cole- man, from Exmouth police station, said the incident was being investigated.
WATFORD DRIVERS VICIOUSLY ATTACKED
Two taxi drivers say they “are lucky to be alive” after falling vic- tim to savage attacks by drunken customers. Both were viciously assaulted in their own vehicles in the early hours of a recent Sun- day morning, with one forced to jump from his still moving car to escape the attack he feared would kill him. Fellow drivers, who say they are regularly assaulted by drunk and abusive night-time passengers, said last month that “enough is enough” and demand- ed more protection from the police and Watford Borough Council. The Watford Hackney Carriage Drivers’ Association spoke to the Watford Observer to explain the horrify-
APRIL 2010 PHTM
ing details of the latest attacks and to call for greater protection for its drivers.
Mohammed Chaudary, 52, speaking with two black eyes clearly visi- ble he told the Watford Observer: “I had picked up seven men from the top of town and took them to Lad- broke Grove.
“When they got aggressive with me I rang the police for help but they said it was a civil matter - that is what they always say. “They wanted me to go further and would not get out of the car. What could I do with so many of them in the car? It was like being kidnapped.
“One of them punched me in the face. Then they all jumped on me and started hitting me.
They kept hitting me until I was knocked out, took the keys to the car and left me for dead. I was lucky that they did not kill me.” Mr Chaudary, who has driven taxis since 1981, says he is reluc- tant to return to his taxi and his livelihood. Shafiq Ahmed, chair- man of the WHCD, has called for the introduc- tion of both in-car CCTV and a panic alarm linked to the police - whom, it is claimed, pass off many incidents as mere civil disputes. Mayor Dorothy Thorn- hill said she was “shocked and ap- palled” by the attacks. She offered to meet with the association to discuss possible steps forward but said her council would “not rush to a knee jerk decision”.
HARROW DRIVER IS AMBUSHED
A cab driver was ambushed by his pas- sengers who stole his car in the early hours of a recent Sunday. Said Omid, 26, picked up two men in their early 20s in Rickmansworth and drove them to Alexandra Avenue, in Rayners Lane. Mr Omid, from Watford, told the Harrow Times: “One of the men started
choking me. The other held down my arms from the side. I felt myself going out and remember the other man shouting, ‘Kill him, kill him - if you don’t he’ll cause problems for us. “I was thinking if I did not jump they would kill me.”
Mr Omid escaped and his attackers sped away in the white
Skoda Octovia. Police have appealed for help tracing the two suspects. One is described as white, with light brown curly hair, wearing a black leather jacket. The sec- ond man is black, with cropped hair and wear- ing a blue shirt. Call Harrow Police on 0300 1231212, or Crimestop- pers on 0800 555 111.
SECOND ATTACK ON LEICESTER CABBIE
A taxi driver has told how he was attacked and left unconscious when a passenger refused to pay a fare. Ameur Chachi was knocked to the ground in the assault and was taken to hospital with head injuries.
It is the second time in six months that the 39- year-old, from Lei-
cester, has been attacked while work- ing, leaving him scared to go on the road. In the latest attack, he had picked up a group of six teenagers from Meridian leisure park, near Braunstone, and told that their mother would pay the fare at the destination. But when he arrived the
group ran to another car without paying so he went to speak to them. Mr Chachi told the Leicester Mercury: “That’s the last thing I remember. I woke up lying on the floor of the pub with someone put- ting ice on my face.” A police spokes- woman confirmed they were investigating.
WELWYN HATFIELD CABBIE STABBED
A taxi driver was stabbed during a vio- lent robbery by a man in a cowboy hat. The victim received cuts to his face in the early hours attack by a knife-wielding passen- ger in Welwyn Garden City.
At around 1.25am the driver picked up the man to drop him off at Moors Walk. Once there, the passenger demanded to be taken to Hilly Fields, where he then knifed the vic- tim and stole nearly £100 of taxi fares from him before running off. Police said the robber was described as a black man in his late teens/early 20s and around 5ft 9in tall. He was wearing brown trousers, dark brown woolly gloves and a black cowboy hat. Pc Craig Whitaker is investigating the assault and robbery. He told the Welwyn and Hatfield Times: “We are treating this incident very serious-
PAGE 75
ly. I would also like to speak to anyone who recognises the man described. The hat he was wearing was very distinctive and he
would have stood out on the evening the inci- dent took place.” Witnesses should call police on 0845 3300 222.
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