I deserved a medal but I went on trial
http://www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk/news ... ticle.html
A taxi firm controller, cleared of assaulting two customers, says he should have "received a medal" for his actions following a late night scuffle.
Speaking to Thisissurreytoday, 21-year-old Michael Green has described how his life was turned upside down during the court case which lasted 10 months.
On Monday (October 26) Michael, who has worked at Belfry Cars for four-and-a-half years, walked free from Guildford Crown Court when jurors passed a not guilty plea for two charges of assault, causing actual bodily harm and one of having an offensive weapon.
He said: "Obviously I was very relieved at the verdict – it was a victory for common sense, but I felt I shouldn't have been in court in the first place."
Michael, of Redhill, said he was on duty on his own in the early hours of Saturday (December 13), when the trouble kicked off.
"I was the victim, I was the one that was attacked by these men who were six ft tall – I'm only 5ft 5ins."
Violence flared when Michael barred two night-time revellers from having a cab after complaints that one of them had called taxi driver Jerome Raj racist names, the court heard.
The two potential passengers, Daniel Barrett and James Delderfield, who worked in the Regis building, in London Road, Reigate, claimed Michael attacked them with a baseball bat studded with nails.
But Michael told jurors the pair – whom he described as violent and drunk – had trashed the office in London Road, Reigate, and tried to attack him when he objected to their racially insulting language.
He said both men had got their injuries when he fought them off by using a strip of metal used to pin down carpets in the office.
Speaking after the verdict, Michael said: "I stand by what I did, I had no choice but to take evasive action. I should have been given a medal at the time."
He said the English law system needed a shake up. "I feel let down by the law. Everyone has a right to defend themselves and their property."
Michael is so angry with the way Surrey Police handled the case, he, along with the company's managing director, Carmine Porto and another driver Imran Mahmood have written to the Independent Police Complaints Commission to protest.