Taxi driver brutally attacked in Waltham POLICE are today hunting a thug who brutally attacked a taxi driver when he asked for his fare.
The culprit was with his girlfriend when he launched the savage attack between 1am and 1.30am on Sunday in Danesfield Avenue, Waltham.
The traumatised driver did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals.
The attacker, with his girlfriend, got out of the cab and walked off without paying.
When the driver walked after the couple to ask for his fare, the man turned on him, punched him to the ground and continued kicking him.
He was later taken to hospital for treatment to cuts to his eye and nose and bruising to his ribs. The driver also suffered a cut to his mouth, elbow and a graze to his fingers.
He had initially collected two men and a woman in Cleethorpes. He dropped off one of the men at one location and was asked to take the other two to a different address.
A manager for AA Taxis in Cleethorpes, for whom the driver works on a nightshift, said: "How would that thug like it if people came to his workplace and gave him a kicking?
"All our driver is doing is providing a service to the public and he is treated like this. It is a disgrace. He simply wants to do his job so he can feed his family.
"He won't be at work for a while. He is still shocked and frightened. It has really shaken him up and he is upset.
"We are assisting the police and have information which will help them. He has to be brought to justice.
"This sort of offence is way up there. It is as bad as it gets.
"Drivers get abuse and they get people dodging their fares and running off. But this lad is only out to earn a living for his family. He is a placid person and has been left traumatised.
"We have asked him to come back to work straight away to try to get over it and promised him we will keep an eye on him.
"How are we supposed to deal with the public when things like this happen and a driver is on their own?
"You can give as much advice as you like about being careful, but when you get people who have no intention of paying for their fare, what are you supposed to do? It is a serious offence and the courts need to come down hard on people like that. Enough is enough."
A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: "When the taxi driver arrived at the second address the man and woman exited the vehicle without offering any form of payment.
"The driver challenged the man, who is then alleged to have assaulted him and made off in an unknown direction."
Anyone who may have information in connection with the incident was asked to contact Humberside Police by calling 101 quoting crime reference 2001935.
This latest attack comes 18 months after two taxi drivers, one of them a female, were held at knifepoint by a robber.
Chasey McIver, 25, was locked up for more than eight years at Grimsby Crown Court in July last year.
Read more:
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Taxi-dri ... z2h7IJXQcm
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