Taxi driver attacked by thugs over £20 fare

Glasgow, UK — Two men were arrested after a hostile attack on a taxi driver who requested his fare up front.

According to reports, the 36-year-old driver picked up the thugs at Govan and drove to their destination at Scotstoun. The cabbie then reasoned that the fare had to be paid upfront because of the distance.

The men, Gordon McPherson, 21, and Dylan Sullivan, 20, allegedly took exception to the driver’s request.

“I told him he could give me £20. He said that was a bit high, that the fare should be £8. The other guy punched on my window,” the father-of-three said. “I said if they had a problem with the fare they should call another taxi. As I drove away they smashed my window.”

As soon as he got out of the car to check the damages, the men started to assault him.

“McPherson struck Mr Javed on the head and body with a knife while Sullivan repeatedly punched him on the head,” Prosecutor Pat Callendar said.

I thought I was gone. I was thinking I was going to die,” Mr. Javed said.

Mr Javed managed to get back into his taxi as the attackers fled. A resident dialled 999 before the victim was rushed to hospital.

Medical reports show that the attack resulted in permanent disfigurement of Mr. Javed’s face. The cabbie’s ear was sliced in two and he was cut on his back and hands. Moreover, he has been left with hearing problems and damaged eyesight and needs sleeping aids and depression medication.

“Everything has changed. I won’t go out alone. I think if they realised that they wouldn’t have done it,” he said.

Sullivan was initially traced and found with blood on his clothes. He claimed to have been attacked.

McPherson had blood on his hands when he was tracked down.

Mr Javed fears he will never be able to return to his full-time taxi driving job but he has begun to work on some school runs.

He is now campaigning for better safety and stricter laws to protect those working in the taxi trade and on other public transport.

Meanwhile, the pair is now in jail for the “vicious and sustained” attack for a total of 42 months.