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Mahmood Alam
Taxi drivers fear roadside ‘smash and grab’ attack
Alex Scapens28/11/2007
TAXI bosses fear a driver could be seriously maimed or even killed at the hands of smash and grab robbers who hurl bricks through the windscreen before snatching money and sat nav systems.
A cabbie was taken to hospital with head injuries after the latest attack, outside the Bulls Head Pub, Gorton Road, Reddish, on Sunday (November 25) at 4.20am.
His employer Metro says it is the fifth time in as many months that one of their drivers has been subjected to the lethal ambush style of robbery - all in the North Reddish area.
Previous incidents - which normally happen when the taxi is at traffic lights - have seen one driver need an ear reattaching and another have glass removed from her eye.
Mahmood Alam, boss of Reddish-based Heatons Hire, has himself been the victim of attack, one of four suffered by his firm.
Oliver Byron, manager at Metro, said: "It is a major concern, we have already had drivers seriously injured and who knows where it could end up if people are willing to hit someone with a brick?
"The latest one saw our driver go to hospital with facial injuries, he’s shaken but OK. In the past one driver had to have his ear reattached and a woman went to hospital to have glass removed from her eye.
"You just can’t totally rule out the chance of it happening, all we can do is increase driver awareness of the incidents."
The firm has put notices up advising increase vigilance over the attacks and to keep sat navs off the dashboard.
In the latest attack, the Metro driver was parked when a brick came flying through his window.
His mobile phone and sat nav was taken and, despite giving chase, he was unable to stop the robbers.
Mahmood says his firm has already lost two drivers, who have decided the risk of attack was too great and left the company.
He said: "I’ve been robbed once, it was quick and I didn’t know what was happening. It was frightening because these people don’t give a damn what they do or who they hurt.
"You think the road is empty one moment the next moment they jump on your car. If you move the wrong way at the wrong moment anything could happen to you. It is becoming quite a problem.
"We tell drivers to keep valuables out of the way and be alert but there’s not a lot else that can be done. Taxis are quick, easy targets and you can’t recognise the robbers as they have hoods and masks."
Mahmood named Gorton Road, North Reddish, and the Didsbury Road area of Heaton Mersey as problem locations.
A police spokesman confirmed they had received a report of the robbery of a sat nav system and were investigating.
And he reaffirmed advice of keeping valuables out of sight and urged drivers to keep vigilant especially in cul-de-sacs where there was no easy route to drive away.
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15/12/2007 at 20:50