Two Men jailed after Violent Attack at Rival Taxi Firm

Two men from Bradford were jailed for a total of six years and seven months on July 29, 2019, as a result of a feud between rival taxi firms.

CCTV footage showed the men taking part in a shocking attack in a Bradford taxi office.

Bradford Crown Court heard that three men had burst into A&M Taxis on Thornton Road on Christmas Day in 2018.

Mohammed Shabir, aged 33, was working alone when he was attacked.

He was punched repeatedly in his chair before one of the men picked up a craft knife from the desk and purposely slashed him across the back of his neck.

Alisha Kaye, prosecuting, explained that Mr Shabir needed 12 stitches for the neck wound. He also suffered a black eye and a fractured eye socket.

She said two cars, containing eight men with their faces hidden, had pulled up outside the office at around 9 pm on Christmas Day.

Faisal Munir Hussain, aged 29, Qasim Ali, aged 34, and an unidentified man went into the office. Miss Kaye said Ali was heard telling Hussain to “whack him”.

Hussain punched the victim before picking up the knife and slashing the back of his neck.

Elyas Patel, Ali’s barrister, said the incident was provoked by an attack at another cab firm’s office the previous day.

He said: “Of course it can never be right or justifiable to engage in a reprisal attack of some sort or indeed to take the law into one’s own hands.

“But the events of the day before make plain that this wasn’t an unprovoked attack. Their sense of grievance was real.”

Hussain’s barrister Ian Brook stated that a medical report had called the neck wound “superficial” and he insisted that his client did not take the knife with him to the cab office.

Mr Brook said the knife had been used “on the spur of the moment”.

Mr Patel said Ali threw some “quick-fire punches”, but when the knife was picked up he played no further part in the assault.

Hussain admitted wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Ali pleaded guilty to a lesser unlawful wounding charge.

Miss Kaye explained that four men were due to appear in court in August 2019 after they were charged with affray.

Judge Jonathan Gibson accepted that they were provoked due to the earlier incident but he was offset by the fact that the assault was effectively a “revenge attack“.

He said: “The background relates to ongoing disputes between two taxi firms in this city.

“I understand members of the rival firm have been charged with affray arising out of an earlier incident.”

“However, of course, having said that you had no right to assault Mr Shabir who was working as a taxi controller on his own in his office at the rival firm that night.

“All of your actions were caught on CCTV and I have viewed the CCTV which shows a violent and vicious attack although the attack itself only lasted for a very short period of time.”

The Telegraph and Argus reported that Faisal Munir Hussain was jailed for five years and five months. Qasim Ali was jailed for 14 months.