Taxi driver stabbed six times after dropping off fare
A taxi driver has been stabbed six times outside a nightclub. The man was attacked outside the Concorde II in Madeira Drive, Brighton, in the early hours of yesterday (SUN) morning.
He was taken by ambulance to Royal Sussex County Hospital where he was treated for wounds to his stomach. Paramedics radioed ahead to doctors to tell them to have a team ready to treat the man, who has not been identified.
Five of the stab wounds were superficial, but a sixth penetrated the skin more deeply. He was later discharged from hospital.
Russell Haynes, director of Concorde 2, said the taxi driver had dropped off customers on the seafront before he was stabbed. He said: "It is an awful thing to have happened but it was coincidental that it happened outside our venue.
"We never have problems like this and I would hate for our venue to be linked in any way. "It was just some argument and someone got on the wrong end of it."
Detetives are hunting the man responsible for the stabbing, as well as the weapon used in the attack at 4.30am. The incident has once again raised fears over the safety of taxi drivers picking up late night fares.
Sebastian Beaumont, whose new novel Thirteen is based on his experiences as a cab driver in the city, said safety is always a concern for those picking up passengers at night.
He was himself once punched in the face by a customer who was upset because he had switched the meter on. He said: "When people are drunk or have been taking drugs such as amphetamines there's sometimes a hostile edge.
"You can sense they're angling for a fight. Many of the drivers I've talked to have quite a fatalistic view, because they know they are going to come across an aggressive passenger at some point."
Ambulance staff were horrified to discover later that vital equipment had been stolen from their vehicle while they were treating the man. The thief grabbed a defibrillator, which is used to revive heart attack victims, as well as a dressings bag and oxygen mask.
An ambulance spokeswoman said: "These were life-saving items. We estimate the total value to be around £5,000." She said the ambulance service had received numerous calls to treat injured revellers on Saturday night. They included a call to treat a man with serious facial injuries and another with head injuries.
The Home Office is funding a research project into the personal security of taxi and private hire drivers, and the measures which can be taken to protect them. Earlier this year drivers in Crawley were offered £250 by the borough council towards the cost of an in-car CCTV system. John Fraser, secretary of Crawley Licensed Cab Driversí Association and the first to have the system installed, said the cameras would give him the confidence to work later hours.
Did you see what happened? Contact The Argus newsdesk on 01273 544516 or tell your stroy at
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