Taxi driver describes horrifying moment his vehicle is trashed by England fanshttps://www.nottinghampost.com/news/loc ... nt-1763826He said: "They have taken my livelihood away. They have ruined my life at the moment."
A taxi driver has described the terrifying moment he watched his livelihood go up in smoke when a mob of England fans destroyed his cab.
Father-of-one Arif Qureshi, 61, of Nuthall, had just dropped off a customer in Old Market Square on Saturday (July 7) when his vehicle was surrounded by England fans.
Hundreds of people celebrating England's quarter final win against Sweden began to bang on the windows, bonnet, and roof of the car.
Mr Qureshi, who has a three-year-old daughter, told the Post: "I just thought they were celebrating. I knew the score was 2-0 and I was enjoying myself as well."
But then the celebrations took a sinister turn when a man climbed on top of the vehicle and began jumping on the sunroof, shattering the glass.
"I knew this was going to get worse," he said. "The glass started to come into the vehicle. This was not a celebration. These are animals.
"It was a very scary moment because when broken glass started to come down on me I knew this had gone over the limit.
"I kept saying 'why are you doing this?' But they would not respond."
Mr Qureshi said had no other option to leave his vehicle and race to nearby Burton clothes shop, where he contacted the police and watched from afar as more thugs began to jump on the windscreen, bonnet and roof of his £10,000 Peugeot 508.
"I could not understand it," he said. "I can't see any justification - we were winning. They have taken my livelihood away.
"They have ruined my life at the moment. It will take me a while to get back onto the road.
"They have not thought about the consequences of their actions. I feel sorry for them. Their mentality is so low."
Mr Qureshi, who has been a Nottingham Cars taxi driver for just under a year, claimed that when he called the police little was done to stop the vandals.
"They told me 'the police is on the scene.' I said 'they are not on the scene.' There was no one out there," he added.
"It continued while I was in the shop - they were jumping on the bonnet and taking pictures. They were trying to amuse the crowd. Police were just watching from a distance."
Mr Qureshi said when he went back to his taxi to collect the takings left his takings inside that the response from some of the crowd disgusted him.
"Some people were trying to give me £1 for the damage they had caused. Another tried to give me a chewing gum," he said.
"My three-year-old daughter was so disgusted when she saw the pictures. She said 'oh...papa's car is broken'."
But he has been overwhelmed by the support from local people who have set up Justgiving pages to raise money for him.
"It is so beautiful what they have done," he added. "It shows the compassion and nature of English people.
"This is what England is about. The people that did this do not represent English people."
Tony Baccoli, 59, operations manager for Nottingham Cars in Wollaton Road, said: "We have been contacted by people asking how the driver is. The reaction from the public has been brilliant.
"We are here to make sure that people get home safely so people should respect the driver and the vehicle. The vehicle is off the road.
"We will support the driver and are looking to provide a vehicle to him free of charge so he can work. We still have another match this Wednesday so our response is 'enjoy but don't destroy'."
One man has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Chief Inspector Neil Williams said: “The weekend was an extremely busy time for Nottinghamshire Police, with officers deployed across the city and county. There was a significant increase in the number of people coming into the city to watch England in their World Cup match and officers were patrolling the area as part of ongoing duties.
“After the game concluded, hundreds of people left the venues where they had watched it at the same time, blocking roads and causing difficulty for traffic and access around Old Market Square.
“There were a small number of incidents, to which officers were there within minutes, including damage caused to a taxi for which a 27-year-old man has been arrested. Enquiries are ongoing to locate others identified via video as being involved.
“The majority of people were well behaved, which the Force appreciates, but there were a small minority who committed offences, and we will be looking to make further arrests.”
Taxi driver thanks those who are helping to get him back on road after England match madnesshttps://www.nottinghampost.com/news/loc ... ho-1764588At least four fundraising pages have been set upThe taxi driver whose livelihood was destroyed when his cab was smashed up after the England match has thanked those who have rallied in support of him.
At least four separate fundraising pages were set-up over the weekend because people were so shocked by the “disgusting” attack on the car to help Arif Qureshi, 61, get back on the road.
Chelsea Reason, 26, of Long Eaton, set up her appeal after being ‘disgusted’ by the online footage and it has already received enough donations to smash her target of £2,000.
She told the Post: “It’s crazy – it proves the community are a lot better than the minority that ruined it.
“Even I have got emotional and it’s not for myself. I just thought that poor man has lost his livelihood – it's so sad.
“People chanting and singing is great but when it comes to damaging people’s property it is just silly. I do not see how any human being can do that.”
She added that people had been in touch about combining the fundraising pages but she thought "the more the merrier".
Another was set up by the owner of the Hucknall taxi company iDeal cars, Danny Mellors, who said hearing what had happened made him feel “empty”.
He added: “It is disgusting behaviour. I have never heard of anything this bad. We have got 60 drivers here. If it was one of my lot I would not be happy – every driver should donate something.
“The cars are their bread and butter. Without it they are not providing for their family.”
Arif said he feels "great" about this fundraising and added: "I always knew it was just a few people responsible for this and the majority of English people are wonderful and true human beings.
"I never had any doubt in my mind [of this] in my 52 years in the United Kingdom."
Another page has been set up by both the Community Protection Officer in charge of the city centre, Nicky Burns, and taxi driver, Walid Ahmad.
Toby Neal, the portfolio holder for community protection at Nottingham City Council, said: “[CPOs] had to deal with it – they saw what impact it had on the driver.
“It has resonated with a lot of people.”
The company Mr Qureshi works for, Nottingham Cars, is lending him a spare car free of charge for "as long as he needs" so he can carry on earning.
Supervisor Javeed Akhtar said he had not seen anything like this in his around 20 years of working in taxis.
“He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
“If you do not have a car you can’t work – it is everything to you.
“Because of the damage that has been done it will probably be written off. The cost of repairing it will be more than buying a new one.”
The roof and windscreen of the cab were broken in the celebrations on the Market Square after England played Sweden yesterday.
One man has been arrested following the incident.
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) who apparently handed himself in to police. Saw a Sun report in which they pixelated his face - maybe because he'd been identified and questioned - but funny thing was that they still had a video which clearly showed his face.
