Soft sentence but unusually high compo. Or maybe it isn't, but I can't recall reading of sums like that in cases like this. But I don't suppose £5k is really that much these days for a serious incident like this
Colchester man attacked taxi driver and left him for deadhttps://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/262757 ... left-dead/A TAXI driver suffered a fractured skull, broken nose, and brain haemorrhage after a passenger beat him in a savage attack before leaving him for dead in the middle of the road.
Brodie Farrell, 26, had got into the taxi in the city centre and then brutally lashed out at his victim when he arrived in Highwoods, having initially tried to run away without paying a £15 fare.
The victim, who attended Farrell’s sentencing hearing at Colchester Magistrates’ Court, wrote in a statement he would have died from his injuries had he not been found by another taxi driver who came across him lying on the ground 15 minutes later.
Angharad Bizby, prosecuting, said the victim let the defendant and his friend into the cab after the two had been on a night out.
She said: “The victim dropped the defendants at the requested stop and thereafter the defendant and his friend left the taxi and attempted to run away without paying the fare.
“He chased after the two friends and managed to catch up with the defendant.
“The defendant pleaded with the victim not to call the police and said he would pay the fare.”
The court heard Farrell got back into the cab to pay the fare but then became aggressive when he could not open the door to get out of the vehicle.
Ms Bizby said Farrell started punching and kicking the driver before hitting him in the head so hard that he knocked the taxi driver out cold.
She said: “Suddenly, he felt a blow to the back of the head – this is the last thing the victim remembers before being in the back of an ambulance.”
The victim was found in the middle of the road 15 minutes later by another taxi driver who saw the man had suffered blows to the head, neck, and chest, and was lying unconscious in the middle of the road.
In a letter to the court, the victim said he had been left psychologically devastated by the attack and now suffers from memory loss.
He said: “I was rendered unconscious – when I was found by another taxi driver, I was told I was close to death.
“I was treated that same day for a fractured skull, broken nose, and brain haemorrhage.
“I genuinely believed I was going to die.”
He continued: “The suggestion there was no intention does not sit easy with the reality of what was done to me.
“It appears after rendering me unconscious I was kicked repeatedly in the head, neck and chest while I lay on the ground – it was not merely excessive, it was savage.
“If the other taxi driver had not found me when they did, I would not be here.”
Farrell, of Harvey Street, Halstead, admitted one charge each of inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent and making off without payment.
Aqsa Farooq, mitigating, said Farrell has shown genuine remorse since the incident in November 2024 and was struggling at the time because he had recently left the armed forces.
She said: “He has become very withdrawn and is clearly suffering with anxiety and depression.”
Farrell’s friend who was also in the taxi and had no part in the assault was fined.
Farrell was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay his victim £5,000 in compensation.
He must also carry out 270 hours of unpaid work, as well as 20 rehabilitation days.
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