Men Jailed For Drunken Attack On Cab Driver
05 August 2009
Two men have been jailed for a vicious race attack on a Wigan cab driver.
Drunken Ashley Haslam and his friend Ryan Crispin each received a six month long sentence after launching a brutal assault on 31-year-old Shazed Ahmed, who works for Arista Cars.
And Wigan and Leigh Magistrates Court pledged today that they will do all in their powers to defend people providing a service to the public.
Chairman of the bench Mrs Gabriele Motteram said: "His ordeal at the hands of both of you was outrageous and the public needs to be protected from this kind of unacceptable conduct."
Haslam, 23, who lives in Horwich, and Crispin, 24, of Blackrod, pleaded guilty to joint racially aggravated assault of Mr Ahmed.
And both also admitted causing almost £100 racially aggravated criminal damage to the taxi. Mark Humphries, prosecuting, said that the brutal assault happened after Mr Ahmed picked up the defendents in the early hours after they phoned for a taxi to Grove Lane, Standish, to take them to Blackrod.
As the taxi set off, Mr Ahmed asked the pair if they had money to pay the fare or they needed to go to a cash machine.
Their insulting reply was "just drive [edited by admin]".
Mr Ahmed stopped the taxi and tried to explain several times that he just wanted to know if they had money to pay the fare.
On each occasion both males made racist remarks referring to the name "[edited by admin]".
Without warning Haslam, who was sitting at the rear of Mr Ahmed, took hold of the driver and by placing his arm around his neck, while Crispin punched the taxi driver in the face and to the body several times.
Mr Ahmed called for help via his personal cab radio then managed to get free from Haslam and Crispin and clamber out of his vehicle.
But they then set about damaging his vehicle, causing damage to the nearside wing mirror and internal fittings.
Several fellow taxi drivers on the rank who had heard about the incident approached the defendants and made a citizens' arrest, detaining the males until the Police arrived.
They were then arrested for damage and assault.
Miss Melissa Fagan, defending, pointed out that both men had pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity.
Both expressed remorse, said they were "very drunk" and wanted to offer apologies to Mr Ahmed. Crispin is in full time employment and brought a reference from his employer, but Haslam is currently unemployed.
Chairman of the bench Mrs Motteram said: "We feel that custody is the only option as this was an unprovoked and sustained attack on a person providing a service to the public.
"The offences are aggravated by your records of offending and particularly that you committed these offences shortly after receiving a community sentence in the Crown Court.
"The offences are also aggravated by the racial abuse towards the victim and because of this the sentence has been increased by one month in relation to each offence."
Haslam and Crispin received four months prison sentence for the assault and two months for the damage.
Source; WiganToday.net
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