Photo: BPM Media via TheMirror.co.uk
One taxi driver from Birmingham is facing the possibility of losing his job and of having to pay all the medical expenses from injuries he sustained over the weekend, when his own clients set on him.
Afaq Iftikhar is originally from Pakistan and doesn’t have a British citizenship. He’s not insured and he has a family with 3 kids that he has to provide for. Right now, doctors have told him that they haven’t been able to save his eye, despite the 4-hour surgery he underwent.
Over the weekend, Iftikhar picked up 2 women and 1 man from outside a local pub. He drove them for a while and then, one of the women got sick and started vomiting in the car. That’s when he pulled over and informed them that they would have to get out. Meanwhile, the other woman was stealing money from inside the car, the Mirror reports.
Iftikhar told them he would be calling the police, so they attacked him. The woman who had vomited took out her shoe and stabbed him in the eye with the heel, rupturing it – beyond repair, it would seem. The other two punched and kicked him, and also took all the money they could get their hands on.
“I got out to ask the girl vomiting to come out, and found one girl stealing money from the front of the cab. I told them I would call the police, and then the guy and girls threatened me. They were saying ‘what're you gonna do?’,” the driver recalls. “I told them to go and not pay but they attacked me. I told them to take what they wanted and leave me alone, one of them took my car keys.”
Iftikhar is now fearing the prospect of being declared legally blind, because that would mean he won’t be able to drive a taxi anymore.
“I'm scared that I could lose my job because of this. Because I am a private hire taxi driver I do not get the same protections as black cabs,” he says. “If I had had a security panel between the driving seat and the passengers it would have been a different story.”
Police are investigating the attack but, as of now, have no suspects in custody.
Over the weekend, Iftikhar picked up 2 women and 1 man from outside a local pub. He drove them for a while and then, one of the women got sick and started vomiting in the car. That’s when he pulled over and informed them that they would have to get out. Meanwhile, the other woman was stealing money from inside the car, the Mirror reports.
Iftikhar told them he would be calling the police, so they attacked him. The woman who had vomited took out her shoe and stabbed him in the eye with the heel, rupturing it – beyond repair, it would seem. The other two punched and kicked him, and also took all the money they could get their hands on.
“I got out to ask the girl vomiting to come out, and found one girl stealing money from the front of the cab. I told them I would call the police, and then the guy and girls threatened me. They were saying ‘what're you gonna do?’,” the driver recalls. “I told them to go and not pay but they attacked me. I told them to take what they wanted and leave me alone, one of them took my car keys.”
Iftikhar is now fearing the prospect of being declared legally blind, because that would mean he won’t be able to drive a taxi anymore.
“I'm scared that I could lose my job because of this. Because I am a private hire taxi driver I do not get the same protections as black cabs,” he says. “If I had had a security panel between the driving seat and the passengers it would have been a different story.”
Police are investigating the attack but, as of now, have no suspects in custody.
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