Taxi Driver Suffers Broken Cheek In Attack
13th September 2008
A taxi driver was left with a broken arm and cheekbone after being assaulted in another attack on county drivers.
The 46-year-old man had picked up a fare at the taxi rank in Horsemarket, Kettering, and driven a group of three women and two men to Butland Road in Oakley Vale, Corby, where they all got out of the taxi on Saturday, September 7.
The driver then realised the passengers had not given him enough money so challenged them.
The two men responded by launching an attack on him, leaving him with a broken arm and cheekbone, as well as bruising to his face and body.
The attack is the latest in a string of attacks on cabbies around the county in recent months.
A 58-year-old driver was taking a fare to Minerva Way in Wellingborough when he was threatened by the passenger, who claimed he had a knife and demanded cash on Friday, September 5.
The thief then punched the driver in the face and made off with a small amount of money.
On August 26 a driver was robbed at knifepoint by passengers in Little Harrowden, and forced out of his car by the man and woman who drove it away.
And the previous week a man and a woman tied a washing line around the neck of a minicab driver before robbing him in Northampton.
Mike Deeley, who runs KLM taxis in Kettering, thinks the onus is on the driver to make sure they avoid becoming victims of such incidents, including asking the customer to pay their fare up front if they journey is going out of town.
He said: "The economic problems have definitely had an impact and we have seen that in a number of cases.
"I think drivers need to be a bit more methodical about what they do.
"If their fare looks a bit wrong we don't take the customer, that's our policy. Prevention is better than cure."
Anyone with information about the assault should call Northamptonshire police on 08453 700700.
Source; Northants Evening Telegraph
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