‘I THOUGHT THAT I WAS GOING TO LOSE MY LIFE’

Mum ‘punched and kicked by taxi driver’

THESE are the shocking photos of a mother-of-four who says she was punched in the face by a taxi driver – after leaving her mobile phone in his cab.

Bianca Butler, from Blurton, had been dropped off in a taxi at her friend’s house on Harrowby Road, in Meir, when she realised she had left the phone and her handbag in the car.

The 26-year-old rang the taxi firm and agreed to pay £10 for the taxi to return with her belongings.

But Bianca says when the cabbie arrived he got out of the vehicle and punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the floor, and then stamped on her.

And when she was able to get up and retrieve her belongings from the taxi, she says the driver then drove off and threw her handbag out of the window.

She said: “The taxi driver rang me to say he was outside and I told him I was coming. I went outside, but the driver got out of the taxi and punched me in the face and I fell to the floor. He then stamped on my face.

“I asked what this was about and then tried to get my stuff out of the taxi, but while I was half in and half out of the car he put his foot down and I fell out of the taxi. It all happened in a flash. I couldn’t see a thing.

“He chucked my stuff out of the car and drove off. Someone who witnessed the attack picked me up off the floor and took me into their house and cleaned me up and I went home.”

Bianca has been left with a black eye and is currently in Royal Stoke University Hospital as the injury has become infected.

She said: “I was petrified. I thought I was going to lose my life.

“I was so shocked by it, it broke my heart. I’m really wary of people now, I won’t even walk the streets on my own anymore. It’s really knocked my confidence and I won’t be going out again.

“I’ve got a massive black eye on the right side and my other eye is also swollen. I’m now on a drip of antibiotics. I’m covered in bruises on my face.

“I still don’t know why the driver attacked me and I don’t have a clue why he was so angry. I’ve always used this taxi firm, but I won’t be anymore.”

Bianca says she reported the attack to the taxi company, but they say they don’t know who the driver is.

She has also reported the incident to the police.

She added: “Something needs to be done, he needs to lose his job as he could do this to somebody else and that’s why I’ve reported it to the police.”

Staffordshire Police are appealing for witnesses to call 101, or report online, quoting incident 790 of September 26.

FIREFIGHTERS in Crewe were called to deal with two fires in the space of just over an hour.

One appliance attended the town’s busy Middlewich Street at around 10.30pm on Tuesday.

One hose reel jet was used to extinguish the flames.

A team also attended a chimney fire at a property in Crewe Road, Shavington, just over an hour earlier.

A Staffordshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “The crew found a wooden beam above a fireplace well alight.

“One hose reel jet was used. Firefighters investigated the scene and found that the fire had spread from the chimney flu.

“A thermal imaging camera was used to check for hotspots.”