Taxi driver punched OAP who complained about cab blocking pavement in restricted parking zone during school runhttps://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/st ... ho-3745995Waqas Ahmed, aged 31, has now been jailed for 12 months
Image: Stoke SentinelTaxi driver Waqas Ahmad punched a pensioner who complained about his cab blocking the pavement in a restricted parking zone during the school run.
The 31-year-old dad-of-four was collecting one of his children from school when a 72-year-old man raised objections about his parking.
But instead of apologising and driving off, the defendant told the man to ‘**** off’, and hit him once, leaving him with a fractured eye socket and other facial broken bones.
Now Ahmed has been jailed for 12 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Prosecutor Richard McConaghy said the defendant parked on Martindale Close, off Sandon Road, Meir, when he went to collect one of his children on April 29.
Mr McConaghy said: “There have been ongoing problems with cars blocking the road for residents and there are parking restrictions at school start and end times.
“A 72-year-old resident was walking on the pavement. The defendant was a taxi driver and had parked his taxi half on the pavement and half on the road, making it hard for him to get past.
“The defendant was putting one of the children in the back of his taxi when the man approached him and told him he could not park there during restricted hours of 2pm to 4pm.
“According to the victim, the defendant immediately told him to, ‘**** off’, and punched him once to his left eye. The man stumbled backwards. He was bleeding from his face.
“Another neighbour believes the victim said, ‘What do you think of this idiot?' immediately before the defendant threw a punch.
“The defendant got back in his car. Police attended and he was arrested.”
The victim went to hospital with a fractured eye socket and a facial fracture. His face is still swollen and he suffers pain. He said the surgeons have told him he needs an operation but have not performed one due to his age.
Ahmed, of Chaplin Road, Longton, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Andrew Bennett, mitigating, said the defendant, who has no previous convictions, will lose his job as a taxi driver.
He said Ahmed is the sole bread winner for his wife and children and urged Judge David Fletcher to suspend the sentence.
But the judge said the only appropriate sentence was an immediate jail term.
Judge Fletcher said: “You knew you had parked where you should not have been. You were parked in a way which was obstructing the pavement. You were parked in a way which would not permit someone with a pushchair to go past on the pavement.
“Instead of saying, ‘I am sorry, I am going now, you simply told him to, ‘**** off’, and punched him hard to the face.
“He was an old man. Instead of engaging with him verbally, politely, you lashed out in the way you did.”
Login
Register
FAQ
