TERROR... BOREHAMWOOD CABBIE ROBBED


A taxi driver was left bruised after he was robbed by one of his customers. The 35- year old driver was threatened and forced to stop his car in Elstree Way, Boreham- wood. He was then


assaulted and his phone and satnav taken in the incident. According to the Bore- hamwood and Elstree Times, the offender got out of the vehicle, threw a bottle at the car breaking the rear


window, and ran off in the direction of the Ibis Hotel in Elstree Way. Police arrested a 32- year old man from Harrow, who was released on police bail pending inquiries.


further SHOTS FIRED AT FARNBOROUGH CABBIE


A taxi driver was held at gunpoint in Farnbor- ough late on Christmas Day, police have said. Hampshire police are appealing for witness- es


following the


attempted robbery of the 65-year-old taxi driver. The driver was attend- ing an address on the street, and had his window rolled down slightly as he waited. After ten minutes he felt a gun being pushed through his


window and a man demanded money. The taxi driver drove away immediately, but heard shots fired, one of which may have struck him. The


driver has


received an injury to his face, and it is believed the weapon was an air gun. Police have issued a descrip- tion of the suspect. He is described as a white man, aged in his late teens to early 20s, 5ft 10ins to 6ft tall,


medium to athletic build, and was wear- ing a thick grey duffle coat. DC Andy Sullivan told Get Hampshire: “We are appealing for any- one who


PC CRUSHED BY STOLEN MILTON KEYNES PHV heard


gunshots in Hazel Avenue or saw anyone acting suspiciously there.” Anyone who has infor- mation should contact PC Sullivan on 101, or contact Crimestop- pers anonymously on 0800 555 111.


WAKEFIELD DRIVER BEATEN OVER £5 TIP


A taxi driver was beat- en up on Boxing Day during an argument over a £5 tip. Javed Akhtar is now having to take time off work after he was left battered and bruised by the attack. Mr Akhtar, 50, picked up a group of three men and a woman from the Little Bull in Middlestown, Wake- field, at around 8pm. He dropped off the woman and one of the men in Cross Road, Thornhill, and was given a £5 tip for Christmas as the pair left. But one of the men left in the back seat behind Mr Akhtar be-


came angry and demanded the money back. Mr Akhtar told the Dewsbury Reporter: “He said, ‘that’s not your money,’ and I said, ‘they gave that tip to me for Christ- mas’. “Then he said, ‘it’s not your Christmas’ and was using bad lan- guage.” The man in the back said he would refuse to pay for the rest of the journey. When the other pas- senger, who was in the front seat, said he would pay instead, the man in the back start- ed swearing again. “Then he grabbed


hold of my neck and started punching me in the eyes and above the eyes,” Mr Akhtar said. The attacker ran off and Mr Akhtar called his rank to ask the operator to ring the police. He was looked after by the remaining passen- ger until officers arrived and took him to Dewsbury and Dis- trict Hospital, where he was put in a neck brace and given X- rays. A police spokesman said enquiries were ongoing and any wit- nesses should contact Dewsbury CID by call- ing 101.


Five people were in custody on suspicion of the attempted mur- der of a policeman and the theft of a taxi. The constable suf- fered serious leg injuries when he was crushed against his patrol car by a stolen taxi which he had been going to exam- ine. The officer, based at Milton Keynes, was taken to hospital. The incident on New Year’s Day came after a minicab driver called 999 claiming four peo- ple had “car-jacked” his Volkswagen Passat and driven off in it. Less than an hour later, police tracked the PHV and were


approaching it when the car was suddenly put into reverse gear and driven at a consta- ble who was pinned against his squad car. The Passat was driven off at speed and was later found abandoned a short distance from the scene of


the


alleged car-jacking in Stony Stratford, near Milton Keynes. A 29-year-old man was arrested on New Year’s Day on suspi- cion of attempted murder. A police spokesman said:


“Two further


men, aged 39 years and 31 years, have been arrested on sus- picion of attempted murder.


“The 31-year-old man has also been arrested on suspicion of rob- bery in connection with the theft of the VW Passat taxi. “Two women, aged 24 and 27, were also arrested on suspicion of robbery. They are all in police custody.” Det Chief Insp Justin Fletcher told the Daily Telegraph: “The inves- tigation is still ongoing and we are continuing to appeal to anyone who may have wit- nessed this incident to come forward.” Police have not yet named the injured policeman,


adding


that he was a victim of crime and would not normally be identified.


CARDIFF CABBIE TERRIFIED BY MOB


A taxi driver has spo- ken of the terrifying moment a violent group of youths set upon his cab as he went to pick up a fare. Kibria Shah, 44, said he thought the mob would kill him after they swarmed around his cab trying to get into the car, kicking and punching to smash the wind- screen. Mr Shah, 44, a taxi driver for eight years in Cardiff, said he had been asked by a pri- vate hire firm to go to Dunsmuir Road to pick up a fare just after midnight on Tuesday 26 December, when the group descended on the car. “I was driving when all of sudden there was a big group of about 15 boys and girls - and a man of about 35, too,”


he said. “They were coming towards me, and then I locked my doors and windows. They were trying to open the doors but they couldn’t, so they jumped on my bonnet and started kicking and punching every- thing. “I was really shocked - I didn’t know what to do. I thought they had come to rob me. I thought they were try- ing to kill me. It was a terrifying experience.” He estimates £1,500 worth of damage was done to his cab, mean- ing he cannot work until


the bodywork


damage is repaired. Mathab Khan, chair- man of


the Cardiff


Hackney Carriage Association, said he was “disappointed” that the police had taken an hour to come


to Mr Shah’s home after


the incident,


rather than come to the scene, and said that there had been similar, reported inci- dents from drivers in the area making Tremorfa a “no-go” area for cabbies. A spokeswoman for South Wales Police confirmed it was investigating an inci- dent of


criminal


damage to a taxi on Dunsmuir Road and that officers had attended “as soon as possible”


to take


details from the driver. She said: “Taxi drivers have a challenging job at times and we appre- ciate the work they do. “This kind of behav- iour


is completely


unacceptable and we ask anyone with infor- mation to contact South Wales Police.”


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