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PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 10:26 am 
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:-#

'I was scared for my life' - Hanley clubber Shannon, 20, undergoes surgery on shattered jaw after jumping from moving taxi

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/st ... er-3893277

Shannon Wiwczaryk is appealing for CCTV footage and witnesses following the terrifying incident

Image
Image: Stoke Sentinel

Clubber Shannon Wiwczaryk has told how she needed major surgery on her face after jumping out of a moving taxi in fear of her life.

The 20-year-old shattered her jaw in two places and suffered severe bruising after leaping from the car on her way home from a night out.

Waitress Shannon had been to Gossip in Hanley with her cousin Arlom Spillane, aged 19, and a friend when they got in a black cab outside Pink.

But a row then erupted over the fare.

According to Shannon, the driver got out of the vehicle and pulled open the sliding door before confronting Arlom.

Seconds later the pair became embroiled in a 'scrap' on the floor of the minibus.

When Arlom managed to break free and climb out, the driver got back behind the wheel and drove off with Shannon and her friend still inside.

It was at that moment Shannon 'acted on instinct' and hurled herself through the open door, hitting her chin on the ground close to Jubilee 2 in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre shortly after 4am on Sunday (February 23).

She was discharged from the Royal Stoke University Hospital four days later after undergoing surgery to fix her mouth.

And she is now asking for the public's help to find witnesses or CCTV of the terrifying incident.

Shannon, from Newcastle, said: "Me, my cousin and a friend got in the taxi outside Pink at about 4am. We got the money out to pay as I know some drivers like proof.

"We handed over £10 but it doesn't usually cost that much so we checked we'd be getting change.

"Partway through the journey my friend noticed the meter wasn't running and that's when the driver started shouting.

"We asked to get out. There was a lot of back and forth with us demanding he stop.

"He eventually pulled over but then he opened the side door and got in Arlom's face.

"Arlom went to push him away but the driver got on top of him and they ended up scrapping on the minibus floor. They both fell on top of me.

"Arlom managed to get out and hold the door open so me and my friend could get out. But the taxi driver got back in the front and started driving off.

"Arlom was running alongside but he had to let go of the handle as the driver sped up.

"I saw the panic in his face and just jumped out. It was complete instinct. My feet went underneath and my face smashed into the ground.

"The driver then slammed the brakes on and my friend was able to get out.

"If I didn't jump out of the taxi I dread to think what could have happened. I think he would have just kept going with me and my friend inside. I was scared for my life.

"I picked up my phone and immediately knew something was wrong with my face. I was having to hold my chin.

"The police eventually came and then dropped me off at hospital."

An X-ray revealed Shannon's jaw had broken in two places and required an operation to insert titanium plates and pins.

She also needed 15 stitches on the outside of her chin and 20 inside her mouth.

Shannon added: "I'm not allowed to work and I'm on a liquid only diet for four to six weeks. I can't do anything. It even hurts to talk as I can only open my mouth a little bit.

"I've got two screws and eight pins holding my mouth together and I just have to wait for it to heal."

Shannon had been planning to start an entertainment hotel job in Cyprus with Arlom in a few weeks and had been working part-time at The Milehouse to save up.

But she is now unsure whether she will be able to take up the position.

She added: "I don't want what's happened to stop me going away. I'm still feeling very sore.

"The police only came to interview me in hospital on Wednesday, four days after it happened.

"They are trying to get CCTV but the Jubilee 2 camera didn't pick us up so we're asking for witnesses to come forward.

"We are hoping that someone has seen something to back what happened."

Details of the terrifying incident were shared by Craig Spillane who is a father figure for Shannon and dad to Arlom.

The 41-year-old, of Talke Pits, said: "It all started when they asked for meter to be put on because they didn't want to be overhcarged.

"The driver knew Shannon wanted to get out of the taxi but he just drove off.

"Straight away she knew she was hurt. She called 999 and the police came and took her to A&E.

"She's in a bad way with severe bruising but it could have been a lot worse.

"She’s meant to be moving to Cyprus in four weeks with Arlom and now the four weeks hard graft she had planned to take money with her are out the window.

"The police have interviewed her and we'll just have to see how the investigation goes.

"I'm just very disappointed. Taxi drivers have to be licensed but these things are still happening.

"Since posting on Facebook lots of people have been in touch to say they have had problems with drivers not putting their meters on. The system needs looking at."

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "Police have received reports of an incident where a woman suffered facial and leg injuries as she got out of a taxi.

"It took place at approximately 4.30am on Sunday morning (February 23) in the Brunswick Street area of Newcastle-under-Lyme."

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 125 of February 25.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:37 am 
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Quote:
Details of the terrifying incident were shared by Craig Spillane who is a father figure for Shannon and dad to Arlom.

Funny the way this 'father figure' guy is shoe-horned into the article to simply rehash what's already been said, and to say how awful these taxi drivers are and how something need to be done :roll:

However, it seems this is him below, and it's doubly ironic he was sent down for a road rage attack in which he bit someone's ear, had no insurance and was using a mobile phone [-X

There's stuff elsewhere about a £500-a-week cocaine habit, bankruptcy and dodgy dealings as an electrician.

But seems he's a reformed character now, and runs some kind of support group for suicidal men.

But I wonder if the Sentinel is trying to imply something about the irony of it all without actually saying so in the article :-$

Anyway, here's the Sun's take from 2016 about the ear-biting road rage incident, which also seems to have been in the Daily Mail, Mirror et al.


Motorist bit off part of a van driver’s EAR and spat it in his victim’s face after he was told to stop using his phone

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1436567/m ... -his-phone

Thug caged after 'vile' attack left his victim needing stitches

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Craig Spillane (Image: The Sun/SWNS - Birmingham)

A ROAD-RAGE motorist bit off part of a van driver's ear and then spat it back in his face after he was told to stop using his mobile phone at the wheel.

Craig Spillane punched Paul Farr after seeing red, but soon found himself pinned to the floor by the ju-jitsu black belt.

As onlookers gathered round the 37-year-old rammed Mr Farr's forehead into a gate and ripped off part of his ear.

Then as he lay bleeding the self-employed electrician taunted the injured man saying: “Ha, ha, You are not so hard now”.

Spillane was been jailed for 20 months for what a judge described as “vile conduct”.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the drivers were queuing at traffic lights at 12.40pm on February 10 when the road-rage incident was sparked.

Plumbing engineer Mr Farr had seen Spillane on his phone and sounded his horn due to the manner of his driving.

Prosecutor Heather Chamberlin said: “Mr Farr noticed the defendant was still on the phone at the traffic lights.

"He got out and walked to the rear of his van before putting his hand to his ear and telling him to get off the mobile.

“Spillane got out of his van at more or less the same time. There was a confrontation and a struggle.

"Mr Farr got the better of the defendant. He has martial arts skills and was able to pin him to the floor.

"Spillane was abusive, but Mr Farr told him he would not let go until he calmed down.

"Mr Farr's son told his dad to let him go as did members of the public and he started to release him.

“But Spillane continued to struggle and pushed Mr Farr's head into a gateway. He felt blood on his forehead and felt teeth grip on his ear.

"He felt considerable pain and the defendant started to pull away while his teeth were clenched around the ear.

“Spillane pulled his head back and spat something directly into Mr Farr's face. It was the remnants of his ear.

“Mr Farr's son started shouting, 'You have bitten his ear off', and punched Spillane to get him away.

Image
Image: The Sun/SWNS - Birmingham

“Spillane was told to leave. As he left, he shouted, 'Ha, ha, You are not so hard now'."

The court was told Mr Farr was left with a 2.5cm cut to his forehead which needed four stitches and he had 15 stitches to his ear.

Image
Image: The Sun/SWNS - Birmingham

His ear remains sensitive and painful, he can't sleep on his right side and he is constantly aware of people noticing his deformed ear.

Spillane, of Chesterton, Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, driving without insurance and using a mobile phone while driving.

The court heard the defendant runs a boxing gym in Stoke-on-Trent and holds charity fund-raising events.

Hamish Noble, mitigating, said: “He is sorry for what he did."

Jailing him Recorder Andrew Easteal told Spillane: “This was vile conduct. You should be ashamed.

“There is no excuse for using your mobile and he was perfectly right to bring that to your attention. The injury is serious. It is going to impact on his life for a long time."

Spillane, who was also ordered him to pay £1,000 compensation, will have six penalty points on his licence.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:58 pm 
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Location: Stamford Britains prettiest town till SKDC ruined it
sounds like one of those families :roll:

After all if you hurl yourself out of a moving vehicle that isn't your own stupidity is it :roll:

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 8:34 pm 
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edders23 wrote:
After all if you hurl yourself out of a moving vehicle that isn't your own stupidity is it :roll:

Certainly a few question marks over the whole thing, and as usual I'd like to here the driver's side of the story as well as that of the 4am clubbers [-(

According to Google it's over three miles from the pick-up point to where she jumped out of the cab, and they hadn't even reached the destination, so if they were expecting change from a tenner then it wouldn't be much :-s

Unfortunately can't find the Stoke tariff card.

But if they asked to get out when they realised the meter wasn't on then why didn't the driver just let them out if he already had his tenner?

Why did the driver get out and start wrestling with the guy, then drove off, if they wanted to get out? Why, precisely, did the driver start shouting en route? Just for the fun of it?

My guess is that there was some dispute over the destination, and maybe he thought at tenner would cover it, or he did it off-meter with a bit of a discount, but when they got near the destination it turned out they wanted to go further than the driver thought, or wanted to do multi-drops that they hadn't told the driver about, blah, blah.

Of course, that's not to say the driver wasn't trying it on, but a tenner for more than three miles at 4am in an HC raises question marks :-k

Anyway, the Mirror, Daily Mail etc have now picked up the story, and Shannon looks a lot different with her face on :-s

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 10:31 pm 
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Location: 1066 Country
Always the drivers fault.

Never the pi**ed up punter jumping out of a cab.

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