TALE OF A TERROR VICTIM TALE OF WELSH DRIVER’S VICIOUS ATTACK BY A PASSENGER
PHTM was contacted by Dr Steve Williams in relation to a savage attack on him by a passenger last Christmas. Not only did he have to contend with the physical effects of the brutish beating but sadly, like so many victims of violence in our trade, he has had to deal with a total lack of interest, empathy and meaningful action by the police regarding his case. Furthermore, when he tried to highlight his plight within local newspapers, they deemed his story not worthy of a single column inch. Dr Williams sets out the circumstances and repercussions of the assault. It makes for grim reading.
BACKGROUND “
I’m not actually a taxi driver specifically, I usually run a business selling things online and on occasion work in academia (hence the Dr Williams). I moved to Ammanford in Wales July 2018 and decided to stay here. As I didn’t really know anyone, I decided to deliver takeaway food for a bit of extra income and once I knew where I was going (so to speak) a local firm asked if I’d consider taxi driving. I’d done the job before in the old days and knew more or less what to expect and I figured I’d enjoy doing it.
Although I work for Lyn Davies of Saron Taxis (Saron is an area of Ammanford) I’m not an employee as such, more like a contractor, along with being a director of two companies in the family line of business. I’ve been helping out Saron Taxis through the lockdown as three drivers have left the trade and sadly two have also died within the last year both from cancer. So the amount of drivers naturally “adjusted” to the amount of work available. Lyn employs a number of drivers full-time doing the day shifts, leaving evenings and weekends to cover but as it wasn’t that busy until last October onwards Lyn and his wife Debbie covered most of the work.
A CHRISTMAS NIGHTMARE
Once it got busier and Lyn couldn’t be in two places at once he rang me and asked if I could pick some people up at 7.15pm from the local Co-Op which is in front of a call centre company. The boss of the company had made the booking on behalf of three of his employees. It turned out the call centre staff had been at a Christmas party (during lockdown *cough*) and each had been given a bottle of vodka to take home. So at 7.15pm a youngish lady, an older lady and the perpetrator of the assault a man maybe late 20s early 30s, ask to go to Llanelli via Llangennech, so a decent enough run. I head for Llangennech and they’re all chatting and drinking from the bottles; the younger lady in the front, the guy behind
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At the police station I called my stepson and Lyn about the incident. My stepson came and Lyn turned up with Debbie to take the car back to his place. It was at this point both my stepson and Lyn took photos (clearly the police couldn’t be bothered). I had pressed the buzzer outside the station door but nobody showed any concern and came out to see to me although they did tell Lyn to call an ambulance, which he did. The 999 call said an ambulance would be at least two hours - ironic as the ambulance station is less than mile from the police station. In the end he “cancelled” the call and took me himself to Carmarthen Gwangwili A&E. Lyn stayed at A&E for the three hours or so I was there and took me back as well for which I am immensely grateful to him.
JULY 2021
me, the older lady behind the younger lady. When we get to Llangennech they “faff about” taking ages for the older lady to get out of the car and finally we move off and they mention turning right after the church so I head that way.
Several times I asked where they wanted to go and eventu- ally he muttered something about “past the campsite”. Seeing the sign for a campsite I head that way; as we’re going along I keep asking “where to?” and again no coherent answer until he says something which sounded like an address. So I stop to put it in my phone (Google Maps) and he gets out of the car shouting: “I’m not your fucking Sat Nav, you’re trying to rip me off you bastard,” and opens the driver door and starts punching me in the face. The younger lady had got in the back at Llangennech and after he’d hit me maybe nine or ten times she got out of the car shouting: “No stop” and words to that effect, whilst getting in his way.
He was thrashing about and she got bruised herself. I had blood pouring down my face and I was thinking, “if I don’t leave he’s going to kill me”, so I drove away leaving the pair of them in the middle of the road. I wasn’t 100% sure what I was doing but I managed to get to Ammanford Police station.
POLICEMEN PLOD
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