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August 7, 2007 Tuesday
Cabbie in fear after assault by passenger
A BOURNEMOUTH taxi driver admits he is now wary of picking up customers after being brutally attacked in a dispute over an £11 fare.
Mahmoud Boutentan, 34, was subjected to what police described as "a very nasty, sustained assault" after chasing down a passenger who fled without paying his fare.
The Algerian-born driver, who lives with his wife in Bournemouth, was kicked and punched unconscious in Sunnyhill Road, Southbourne, and needed stitches to his face.
Mr Boutentan, an independent cab driver, says he has since found it hard to return to work.
He said: "I've been out for a couple of hours, but I've not been working like I was before.
"Now when I come to pick up people I get a feeling in my stomach.
"If I see a group of girls or just one boy, it's OK, but if I see groups of boys I get out of the queue."
Mr Boutentan, who has been driving his taxi in Bournemouth for just over a year, had picked up his attacker, along with two girls, at the Horseshoe Common rank just before 4am on Friday July 27.
Having dropped the two girls off, the attacker then tried to run off before Mr Boutentan chased after him.
"I've had people run off before and just accepted it, but I really needed the money," said Mr Boutentan.
"I managed to catch up with him, and he said come on then, one on one, man on man'.
"I got my mobile phone out to call the police, but the next thing I remember was waking up with lots of people around me."
A 42-year-old resident of Sunnyhill Road, who came out to help, estimated Mr Boutentan was out cold for at least five minutes following the attack.
"It must have been a severe beating and there was bruising and cuts on his face," he said.
Mr Boutentan said he hears a least one tale a week of fellow cab drivers being abused and called on the authorities to look at the issue.
"It is a problem that needs to be addressed," he said.
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