Hammer attack taxi driver jailed after breaking Hull man's neck
A TAXI driver who attacked a customer with a hammer, leaving the victim with a broken neck, wept as he was jailed.
Pishtiwan Hamed, 32, got out of his Hackney cab to remonstrate with three customers after they refused to pay him because of his abusive behaviour.
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'ABUSIVE': Pishtiwan Hamed has been jailed for two years.
Hamed initially threw a bottle of water at the group before taking a hammer from his car boot and assaulting Leslie Bowes.
Mr Bowes fell to the ground and suffered a broken neck.
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As previously reported by the Mail, he had to undergo a delicate operation to prevent him from being paralysed and had to wear a neck brace for three months following the attack on April 21.
Mr Bowes, 57, had been out drinking in the city centre with his sister, Judith Coates, and her husband, Antony, both of Market Weighton, prior to getting a cab.
Once in the vehicle, Mrs Coates was directing Hamed to her brother's address in west Hull, because he did not know the way.
The court heard Hamed became verbally abusive to her and Mr Coates demanded Hamed stop the car so they could get out and refused to pay him.
Hamed, of Clowes Building, Hull city centre, then followed the group as they walked away and attacked Mr Bowes.
Prosecutor Nick Adlington told Hull Crown Court: "This is a case where he abused his position of trust because he was a taxi driver.
"If people cannot travel safely in a Hackney carriage, who can they safely travel with?"
Hamed pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.
His barrister, Anil Murray, said: "It was one blow after the complainant had taken a step towards him.
"There was a swing towards the upper body, he was not aiming at the head and it was with a blunt, rather than a sharp, instrument.
"This is not a man prone to hitting people for no reason. He had taken the passengers to the first address and they wouldn't pay him. Things went too far."
The Honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding, Judge Michael Mettyear, jailed Hamed for two years.
The judge said: "I have a lot of sympathy for taxi drivers, they tend to work hard in difficult circumstances.
"Sometimes they have disagreeable passengers, sometimes those passengers are drunk and abusive, even violent.
"That is well known, not only to courts but to taxi drivers as well. It is an unfortunate element of the job. That is why I take a firm view on people who attack taxi drivers and they are sent to prison.
"I seek to protect taxi drivers by sending out a consistent message but taxi drivers are in no special position so far as their own conduct is concerned.
"They may have to put up with a lot but they need to behave responsibly as well."
Judge Mettyear told Hamed: "It may be these three people in your taxi didn't behave entirely properly but neither did you. "You were disagreeable and abusive with them and got out to remonstrate with them. You used a weapon and the consequences of your blow were very serious indeed.
"Your conduct was wholly unacceptable."
Originally from Iraq, Hamed came to Hull 12 years ago.
He is married and the couple are expecting their first child at Christmas.
Comments
by GuyCandy
Sunday, October 21 2012, 9:11PM
“It could be worse, we could live in Bradford, read the comments with this story,
http://tinyurl.com/8b7h6v5”
by Thedark1
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 9:38AM
“deport this ugly scumbag after hes dun porridge”
by bobsbar
Monday, October 08 2012, 11:50AM
“Haven't seen any cases of foreign doctors , nurses etc raping patients or attcking them with an hammer.”
by ek_its_chily
Monday, October 08 2012, 11:17AM
“'bobsbar'
As well as requesting only English cab drivers (7 likes so far) – when you are ill and need treating do you only use an English doctor? When the Phillipino nurse is doing chest compressions on your mother to keep the blood pumping around her body after a heart attack, do you ask her to get her filthy foreign hands off your mam?
When you spill a cup of coffee on the floor and leave it there do you tell the Malaysian domestic not to clean up after you?
When the heart surgeon (who is from India) tells you he can save your boys life next Wednesday by operating do you tell her to get lost and that you will wait for the lovely, but possibly less experienced, English surgeon to do it when he has time on his waiting list?
Or when we say 'kick em all out' do we just mean 'the bad ones'? I totally agree that people you offend whilst here in the UK seeking asylum/working illegally/purely looking to take advantage of the benefit system (that we set up) etc should be escorted back to their country of origin. But do not mix this up with every person that is not English in this country.
It is not 'mamby pamby liberal' thinking, it is simply not 'them and us' thinking.”
by geertwilders2
Monday, October 08 2012, 7:25AM
“Almost 200 foreign criminal suspects were arrested every day by the country's largest police force last year.
Just over 72,500 – a third of the total arrested – were held by the Metropolitan Police and questioned about crimes including murder, rape, robbery and fraud.
The figure is up almost a quarter on two years ago when 58,870 non-British suspects were arrested in London.The rise emerged as Scotland Yard revealed it has drafted in immigration officials to all its 72 custody suites in a drive to target foreigner suspects.
This included 79 on suspicion of murder, 708 for rape, 1,863 for robbery, 2,801 for fraud and 2,489 for burglary.
Another 2,742 were arrested because they were wanted by police, 7,524 for shoplifting and 2,516 for drink-driving after crashing their vehicle.
The rising trend is mirrored elsewhere, with the country's second largest force, West Midlands Police, arresting 11,801 between April 2011 and March this year.
That is an increase of more than half on the previous 12 months when 7,716 foreign suspects were held.”
by pheelinphunki
Sunday, October 07 2012, 1:02PM
“This is a sickening example of our country going to the DOGS!
How dare some of you lot label us racist for simply stating the TRUTH??!!
This idiot doesnt deserve prison, he deserve being deported!! Im disgusted at what this monster has done.
I, like some have mentioned on here, am leaving this counrty, for the simple fact, i will get better treatment as an immigrant in another country than i do here! Im a Britsh citizen, yet I feel second class... and Im just not having it anymore.....
In my opinion, let this freak ouf of jail, take his papers off him, and send him on a plane back to Iraq... How are he abuse our hospitality, our customs and our values... YOU MAKE ME SICK! Anyone on here defending this idiot, also needs a good kicking.... OUT OF OUR COUNTRY.
Goodbye, God Bless United Kingdom, I used to feel so proud being from here, and living here. Now its a total joke.....”
by geertwilders2
Saturday, October 06 2012, 10:47AM
“Foreigner
The thing is we have enough of our home grown scum without importing other country's scum like your friend Pishtiwan,
I also think you'll find he's one of very many who since coming to this country under the last treacherous Labour Government to have been arrested for many murders rapes knifings drug offences, the list is endless,
And you also say
"The reason because you see more male emigrants is not because the are no females in UK, but because most of them are part of that culture that they should provide for the family and woman take care about children and etc at home,"
I hate to tell you this Pal but in this Country Woman are treated the same as Men, it's called equal rights,
I think you'll find the vast majority of the asylum seekers to come to this city over the past 15 years were young males who were not in fear of there life but were in it for what they could take, they left their family's and third world Country's to come here because they were treat better than our own citizens,
these are just a few of the reasons a lot of people in this country are to put it mildly a bit p----d off with immigrants committing crimes.”
by Thedark1
Saturday, October 06 2012, 10:39AM
“what an ugly iraki criminal deport him now”
by facedontfit
Saturday, October 06 2012, 10:29AM
“And there we go - HDM playing the PC card again and censoring comments that are neither rude, unacceptable or insulting. I merely stated my opinion and that of a lot of other people in the City - trouble is I actually put voice to it. Freedom of speech and right to an opinion. Huge joke - HDM are you perhaps owned and run by the Russians or the Chinese? They don't like people having an opinion either!
"His barrister, Anil Murray, said: "It was one blow after the complainant had taken a step towards him.
"There was a swing towards the upper body, he was not aiming at the head and it was with a blunt, rather than a sharp, instrument.
WITH A HAMMER that he was obviously carrying in his cab as a dangerous, concealed weapon! So it's okay that it was with a blunt rather than a sharp instrument - God forbid he had been concealing a knife! Probably would have only got 3 years for murder...
Time has come people to close the gates to this once great country and deport them all back home."”
by Foreigner
Saturday, October 06 2012, 9:56AM
“Hello everyone,
I wanna make sure that you guys know that I am not in anyway saying that he did the right thing, but what I am against is that, why should you make an example for all foreigners????
I work as a taxi driver as well and I have known the guy as well, I was very surprised when I heard of what he had done as this was not his character but I think he got the right sentence.
Crimes happen all over regardless of nationality.
I was a victim of two British customers as they tried to take my car of me and I never took an example for all British people. Why should you????
In many cases I get female customers saying please take me as far as £5 can take, and I never did so, always I took them to the destination they wanted, even if that was a lost of over £5 as it happen in few cases.
I feel more angry than you guys do, because of this taxi driver I now might face more abuse because I am foreigner.
The reason because you see more male emigrants is not because the are no females in UK, but because most of them are part of that culture that they should provide for the family and woman take care about children and etc at home.
Another thing as one of you said that if don't like being here I should leave. Life it isn't that easy as you think but this explains again what mentality you have.
If you look some statistics you will see that over the years are more British people moving out of the country than foreigners coming in.
I ask all educated and people with some manners to come here and make some decent comments, so that you show that Hull is not made by only people with racism mentality and etc.”