Drunken yob beat up taxi driver then stole his cab A MAN attacked a taxi driver and stole his takings before driving off in his cab during a night of booze-fuelled violence.
Kasam Hamid was angry his wife refused to meet him when he was out boozing with friends in Leeds city centre.
Leeds Crown Court heard Hamid, 22, of Welton Mount Hyde Park, told his terrified wife Shumaila Kousar he was catching a taxi home, adding: “I’m coming home in 15 minutes to kill you.”
Taxi driver Mohammed Ghani picked Hamid up on Boar Lane and he asked to Hyde Park during the incident on February 12 this year.
Prosector Louise Reevell said: “[Hamid] became aggressive to the driver and said he would smash his face in and burn his car. Hamid grabbed Mr Ghani around the throat and punched him in the face.”
Mrs Reevell said taxi driver Mr Ghani jumped out of his cab and Hamid, who stole the cabbie’s £90 takings, got in the drivers seat and headed for home.
The court heard during earlier phone calls home Hamid had spoken to his father who was afraid of what his son might do. Hamid’s father had alerted police and officers were waiting when Hamid arrived at the house.
Mrs Revell said Hamid went in to the house and said: “I don’t care, I will burn the house down. I will kill them all.”
Hamid admitted making threats to kill, theft, assault, driving whilst disqualified, taking a taxi without the owner’s consent, making threats to the taxi driver and failing to provide police with a breath specimen.
The court heard Hamid had been convicted of drink driving and banned for a second time just weeks before the incident on February 12.
Jailing Hamid for two-and-a-half-years, Recorder Simon Jackson QC said: “The taxi driver was frightened. He tried to defuse the situation by saying ‘you don’t pay me.”
Recorder Jackson added: “He was so terrified that he stopped the taxi and got out.”
Hamid was banned from driving for three years. He has previous convictions for robbery, drug dealing and assaulting former partners.
Graham Parkin, in mitigation, said Hamid had a drink problem, adding: “Those same family members who are victims...are finding it difficult to come to terms with how this defendant has changed.”
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