Taxi Driver Online

Firework thug jailed for attack on minicab driver



A minicab driver feared for his life after a yob threw a lit firework on to his lap while he was behind the wheel, a court has heard.

Stephen Westhead, aged 25, laughed and said “your taxi is on fire. What are you going to do now” as victim Akilbhai Fatakiya fled from the burning car.

Denise Fitzpatrick, prosecuting, said Westhead and two other men approached Mr Fatakiya’s Toyota Avensis while it was stopped at the junction of Union Road and Pole Street at about 10.30pm on November 6, last year.

One of the men asked the victim how he was seconds before Westhead threw a lit Roman candle into his private hire car.

Ms Fitzpatrick said: “Westhead threw the ignited firework into the minicab. It was alight, it landed on the knee of the driver. It fell to the floor and landed in the driver’s foot well.

“The driver was scared for his life. He jumped out of the taxi and began to run away.”

Bolton Crown Court heard (MON) that a fire service crew manager, who attended the blaze, said the driver would “surely have died” if he had not fled. The car, which cost £1,700 was completely destroyed.

Mark Friend, defending, said Westhead, of of Union Road, Tonge Moor, was drunk and “did an incredibly foolish” thing.

He had been struggling to cope with family issues as his ex-partner had been in a relationship with his brother. His child was also in foster care.

Judge Peter Davies, sentencing, said: “The three of you thought it would be amusing if you lit a firework and threw it into a car. I think it was dangerous and nasty.

“A firework is a bomb with all that petrol and oil. Even without that environment it is lethal.

“Spiteful, wicked and nasty is what it was. You excuse yourself with intoxication — I don’t think that’s an excuse I think it’s worse.”

Westhead, who has seven previous convictions, admitted arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered. He was jailed for five years.

Nick Astley, director at Metro Cars, who Mr Fatakiya drives for, said: “I am pleased the judge has seen it as being really serious. This is the first time I have known of a car to be set on fire from a firework.

“It probably started as a bit of a fun and a fame but it’s turned out to be really nasty. Fortunately only the car was damaged. If Mr Fatakiya hadn’t got out of the car he would have died or been seriously injured.”

source: http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/111 ... ?ref=var_0

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

Judge Peter Davies, sentencing, said:

Five years!! The car was only worth seventeen hundred bucks, and it's not like anyone died.

The Judge must have had a hardon for this guy, Stephen Westhead. Oh and I'm not saying the sentence was wrong, but it is a surprise.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Im delighted with the sentence.

But I doubt that is shared by the scumbag.

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IDFIMH

I bet when the Judge said, "five years," he almost sh*t himself.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

There's the chance that the driver may have been trapped in the car and been burnt to death.

It was as such, an attack on the driver - not just an empty car.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

It’s one thing, putting people at risk but not actually causing harm and another to be punishing someone for a crime that has yet to happen. Did this guy get five years for the former, the latter or both?

You’d be lucky to get five years for killing someone while drinking and driving.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Tbh I think that the ante needs to be upped on a DD kill and a bit of Shari law would not go amiss in general. The judge in this case seems to have made a few eyebrows rise.........but is the sentence wrong? sounds about right to me! a few more like that and boy wouldn't they stop and think for once in a while, perish the thought but crime might actually drop (for real). I think like many you have gotten used to seeing soft sentences.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Read the story again and replace the five years, with three. My bet is, you'd be saying, "sounds about right to me." And you are probably right about the soft sentencing but not in this case.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"