But am I referring to the driver or the passenger?
Cabbies urged 'don't arm yourselves'
A judge has pleaded with city taxi drivers not to arm themselves even though they could be the victims of attack.
The plea from Cardiff Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC was made as he heard the case of 'honest' driver Mohammed Hassan, 30, who took a hammer out with him and admitted using it on a drunken passenger during a row over the fare.
The judge appealed: 'Please, hard working, decent taxi drivers, do not put yourselves in the way of temptation by carrying weapons. Please just call the police.'
Cardiff Crown Court heard the passenger picked up by Hassan on the night of the Wales/France rugby international was 'pretty drunk' and could remember nothing about what happened.
He woke up at his Penarth home to find he had a fractured cheek bone and nose and lacerations to his head and then discovered a hammer in his kitchen.
Police arrested Hassan, of Bowley Court, Splott, after another Penarth resident reported she had heard the argument over the fare and saw a taxi driver holding a hammer and saying calmly 'I just wants my money'.
Hassan admitted he had struck out but only after the passenger became aggressive and had hit him first.
Yesterday Judge Durham Hall gave him a six-month conditional discharge after he pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Pearson said: 'We cannot say how the incident took place because the complainant does not know how he ended up with his injuries but the defendant, who is of clean character, accepts he used the hammer.'
The court heard Hassan described as 'reliable, honest, trustworthy and hardworking' by people who know him.
The judge told him: 'While one recognises that taxi drivers themselves are invariably the victims of violence, the courts cannot condone it when they choose to respond in this fashion.'
He said there would be no costs and no compensation ordered against the driver.
mrT..