Cabbie tells of his horror at thugs’ stun-gun attack
VIOLENT ROBBERY IS LATEST ASSAULT ON TAXI DRIVERS IN OLDHAM
A TAXI driver was left in agony when he was TASERED by passengers in Oldham.
The 42-year-old was subjected to a vicious assault – including being shocked with a stun-gun – after asking two men for the fare upfront.
The thugs demanded the victim’s cash and keys in the attack – the latest in a string of incidents in which taxi drivers have been targeted.
The alarming incident took place at 10.30pm on Sunday. He had picked up the two men – understood to be in their early to mid-20s from Willow Bank, in Lees. As he drove along Oldham’s Hanson Street he was victim to a brutal assault.
Speaking about the attack, the dad-of-four, from Oldham, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I picked them up and they asked to be taken a short ride away. Then they changed where they wanted to go part-way through the ride.
“So I asked them for the cash up front because I thought they might do a runner. That is something I would normally do if I doubted someone would pay. They said they wouldn’t do that so gave me their phone as a deposit. But then all of a sudden they said, ‘give me your money.’
“I said I didn’t have any money and they asked for my car keys. Then the lad in the back started punching me and so did the bloke in the passenger seat. Then I felt shocks all down my left side and realised the bloke in the back was Tasering me.
“It hurt a lot. It was like sharp shocks. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. I tried to pull over and started honking my horn in the hope that someone would come out and help me.
“They still had hold of me at this point and they had knocked off my glasses.”
Fortunately, a resident came out of a house and the man in the passenger seat ran off.
The taxi driver added: “I then managed to unclip my seatbelt and get out of the car and I just threw my keys on the floor.
“I tried to find my glasses and by the time I had, the man in the back had run off as well.
“It was bad. I have a few bruises. They took around £60 from the fare money in the taxi.”
The victim, who has worked as a taxi driver for 18 years, was held at knife point in Oldham 15 years ago. But he is determined to carry on working. “It’s scary but it’s a job and you have to carry on. You can’t let people like that put you off,” he said.
Tasers are only legal if used by trained police officers.
The attack comes after months of incidents in which taxi drivers in Oldham have been the target of crime and anti-social behaviour.