Cabbie 'punched and abused rival'Thursday, June 28, 2012A taxi driver racially abused a rival cabbie and repeatedly punched him in the face in front of shocked passers-by, the Old Bailey heard.
Keith Lammin branded Asif Iqbal a "black ****" after accusing him of touting for business at a hotel in Ludgate Hill in the City of London.
The 51-year-old, of Highfield Road, Romford, denies racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in the incident that took place on September 25 last year.
The court heard that Lammin allegedly tried to trip up Mr Iqbal in the hotel lobby and the victim responded that Lammin would "get slapped if he did it again."
"Mr Lammin thought Asif Iqbal was touting for trade rather than as a booked minicab," said prosecutor Michael Bisgrove.
"A few minutes later Mr Lammin came out of the hotel and approached Mr Iqbal's car. He opened the driver's side door and racially abused Mr Iqbal.
"He then began punching Mr Iqbal in the head and the body.
"In the course of this attack Mr Iqbal's finger on his right hand was broken. Mr Lammin then went back to his car and drove away."
Part of the attack was caught on CCTV and there were several witnesses in the street, the court heard.
One woman described Lammin as being wide-eyed and having his teeth gritted "like an animal" as he beat Mr Iqbal, jurors were told.
During a police interview Lammin denied punching Mr Iqbal and claimed that he went to tell Mr Iqbal that he was going to report him for touting.
He said he thought the alleged victim was going to throw a cup of coffee over him and put his hands out in self-defence. The trial continues.
Source; http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Cabbi ... story.html