Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver stabbed in ambush in Erdington

A TAXI driver was stabbed in the leg and beaten by two thugs pretending to be passengers in a brutal attack in Birmingham. The 54-year-old driver, from Erdington-based private hire firm Star Cars, collected two men from outside a house in the city but had only driven a few hundred yards when they turned on him.

A colleague said the driver, known as Bal, was slashed across the face, stabbed in the knee and repeatedly punched in the face after he refused to hand over his takings.

The driver, who did not want to be named, said he was “living in fear” after the incident, which he said happened shortly after Bal collected two men from an address in Hawkesyard Road, Erdington, at about 5.20pm on New Year’s Eve. It was thought the men tried the same ruse the following day.

“When Bal got to the job two black youths got into his car and directed him to a nearby road called The Oval, which has a cut-through that runs back to Hawkesyard Road,” the driver said. “Bal thought it was weird that they wanted to stop there when they could have walked there.

“The next thing Bal knew, the youth sat behind him grabbed him and pinned him to his driver’s seat. “The youth in the passenger seat pulled out a knife and told Bal to hand over his money but he put up a fight. “The youth slashed him across the face then punched him in his eyes and body before stabbing him in his leg. “Then they ran off after they failed to take the money.”

Colleagues arranged a collection to help Bal and his family while he was off work recovering. The driver said there were fears the same trick was repeated on New Year’s Day after a cab was called to an address.

But on that occasion the car sent to the job was followed by an unmarked police vehicle and the call turned out to be hoax. West Midlands Police confirmed officers were investigating the attempted robbery. The offenders were described as black men in their 20s.

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