Warning over violence against Telford taxi drivers
Tuesday 31st August 2010, 6:33PM BST.
Escalating violence by members of the public against private hire drivers in Telford could soon lead to one of them being killed, it was claimed today.
The warning was sounded by the chairman of the Telford Private Hire Drivers Association.
He raised concerns following attacks on drivers over the weekend.
Mohammed Zaman has been backed in his claims by taxi company bosses from the Telford Private Hire Operators Association.
Police today said they took all allegations of assault extremely seriously and action would be taken.
Mr Zaman and operators association member Terry Spooner spoke out in the wake of two savage attacks on private hire drivers in e Madeley at about 2am on Saturday.
In one incident a driver was hit in the face with a brick and in the other the victim had his eyebrow “bitten off”.
Mr Zaman claimed there were many other attacks which went unreported to police because the drivers were afraid of reprisals.
He said: “Three weeks ago a driver had his nose broken when he was robbed in Park Street, Madeley. Then, 10 days ago, another driver was robbed at knifepoint in Madeley on a car park opposite the police station.
“I was shocked by that incident. If it goes on like this we are going to have a driver killed soon.”
Mr Spooner also called for “more support” from police.
Richard Langton, acting chief inspector for Telford, today said police took all assaults extremely seriously and added nearly a dozen police units were dispatched to the assault in Madeley.
He said: “There is concern that police are not taking these assaults seriously which I would say is not the case.”
Source; http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2010 ... i-drivers/
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