No real job angle here - could happen to anyone on the roads
But I'd guess 'taxi' drivers are maybe more at risk from this kind of thing because, you know...
On the other hand, I might be less at risk because I'm white as a sheet. Or maybe
more at risk because I'm white as a sheet, depending on the perp
Doesn't sound like the original incident amounted to much, though. But the perp sounds like a real 'banger...
Taxi driver collapsed to ground 'like sack of potatoes' after thug beat him up over crash photohttps://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black- ... e-32263663Kyle Henry, 32, has been locked up for his attackA thug who beat up a taxi driver just because he took a photograph after a van collided with his cab has been locked up.
Kyle Henry left taxi driver Miah Muktar with 'life-changing' injuries after confronting his victim in the street during his 'impulsive' attack.
The dad-of-four violently lashed out when Mr Muktar pulled out his mobile to take a picture of a van's registration plate.
He punched the victim so hard with both hands that he collapsed to the ground 'like a sack of potatoes'.
The victim was left on the ground 'bubbling with blood', with a witness admitting "I genuinely believed he was going to pass away".
He spent some time in intensive care before returning home, where his wife has had to care for him full-time.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how Mr Muktar believed the van had 'clipped' his silver Honda Civic on August 8, 2023.
When the van failed to stop, he pulled up in front of it in Park Lane, Wednesbury.
Front seat passenger Henry, 32, was one of a number of people inside the van.
The victim took a photograph of the front of the van, capturing the registration plate.
But Henry 'took exception' to this and decided to 'pursue matters', getting out of the van while the driver remained inside.
He 'marched' up to the taxi driver and punched him in the face 'with both hands', forcing him to fall backwards.
'Significant force' was used during the violence, the court heard.
District Judge Grego said: "He fell so hard that he went down like a sack of potatoes.
"He was motionless on his back on the ground. You, cowardly in fashion, returned to the van."
The court heard that Henry's friend then drove the taxi away from the scene but the vehicle was later recovered by police.
District Judge Grego added: "When it was clear that you rendered this man unconscious, you had absolutely no concern for his welfare."
Mr Muktar was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham with a fractured skull, a swollen left eye, fractured right ear drum and a broken nose.
He 'cannot remember anything' due to his injuries, prosecutor Joseph Lees said.
In a statement read to the court, Mr Muktar's wife recalled finding out her husband had been attacked.
She said: "It was shocking when I first heard from other people what happened.
"I remember speaking to my husband an hour before the attack."
She went on: "I was crying. I was scared he would not be alive.
"I remember seeing him on the [hospital] bed. I tried to talk to him but he could not talk to me.
"There was blood everywhere, his face was covered in bruises, his nose was broken.
"He was in a very bad state. The children could not even see him because it was so traumatic to see him like this.
"I remember the surgeon told me there was a chance he would not make it and I remember feeling so helpless."
The victim's wife said she had to become a 'full-time carer' to support her husband's recovery after he left hospital.
The attack has had an impact on her husband's mental state, she said.
She added: "My whole family's life has changed because of this."
Henry had 12 convictions for 17 offences including three for common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, affray, breach of suspended sentence and robbery.
Mr Sherrington, defending, said Henry 'regrets his actions' and is 'devastated'.
The attack was 'impulsive' and 'short-lived', he said.
Mr Sherrington added: "He was simply distraught to read or have told to him the nature of the injuries sustained by the victim in this case.
"He has not been able to stop thinking about his actions that day since they occurred."
Henry also 'struggles with his consequential thinking', Mr Sherrington said.
The convict admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on a basis, claiming that the taxi driver had been 'confrontational'.
But District Judge Grego said the case did not involve 'self-defence that went too far' and it was not 'something that just happened'.
It was 'unprovoked violence', he added.
The judge went on: "Your assault has left the victim with permanent and it seems irreversible injuries which have had a profound effect on his day-to-day life.
"You are no stranger to the use of violence when you deem it relevant."
Henry, of Haig Street, West Bromwich, was jailed for 34 months and told to pay a £184 victim surcharge on Tuesday, August 5.
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