Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver stabbed in masked raid



TAXI driver Javid Akhtar was dragged from his cab and beaten by a gang of masked men as they tried to steal his takings.

The father-of-three feared he was going to die after being ambushed by the baseball bat-wielding thugs in Garnet Street, Etruria.

He was left with eye and facial injuries, a knife wound to the back of the head and a broken finger.

The 31-year-old had earlier picked up one of the attackers from Hassell Street, Newcastle, in his Hackney carriage last Wednesday night.

He said: "As soon as I pulled up four lads came up with balaclavas, they had baseball bats and smashed my car and broke the windscreen.


"They hit me and one of them had a knife and stabbed me in the back of the head.

"While they were hitting me one of them was searching the cab but they didn't find my money."

Following the attack the five men ran to a nearby parked car, believed to be a silver Toyota Avensis, and drove away. They took Mr Akhtar's keys leaving him stranded.

He called an ambulance and the police on his mobile and was taken to hospital. Mr Akhtar, who lives in Etruria with his wife, two sons aged seven and five, and three-year-old daughter, said: "When they were attacking me I was thinking they were going to kill me. I'm lucky I'm still here.

"I can't see properly out of my right eye, so I cannot work. I don't know how long for and the doctors said they don't know if it will get better. I have to wait until the swelling goes down.

"Driving is my livelihood and it's the only money coming into our house. My wife and children have been really upset and my wife doesn't want me to go back to the taxis.

"I'm really angry and want the people who did this to be punished."
Teresa Jones, secretary of Newcastle Hackney Carriage Association, said: "I am aware of the attack, it is very worrying."

Dave Burgess-Pearson, chairman of the Hackney Carriage Association in Stoke-on-Trent, added: "With the current financial climate taxi drivers seem to be an easy target. People think we are earning a lot of money but they would be surprised.

"Any attack on a driver is worrying and I hope whoever is responsible is caught quickly."

Mr Akhtar has been driving a Hackney carriage for Newcastle Borough Council for four years. The authority's cabs are not fitted with CCTV.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

CCTV is a good deterrent but until the costs of fitting them in all cars HC and PH is addressed I fear that some drivers will take their chances without them

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

After reading that i consider myself lucky after what happened to me a few weeks ago in Edinburgh.I still have not heard if they caught the culprits they did say that the attack was on cctv but as they were wearing hoods i don't think they would be able to identify them.