Dudley taxi driver cleared of assaulting schoolboy after snowball attack
A taxi driver has been cleared of assaulting a schoolboy after he confronted the 13-year-old when his cab came under a snowball attack from a group of teenagers in Dudley.
Mohammed Shafiq, aged 41, stopped his car in Marriott Road in Netherton and grabbed the rucksack strap of the boy to show him the £250 damage caused.
Mr Shafiq was later arrested and charged with assault. But at Dudley Magistrates Court, three magistrates found Mr Shafiq, of High Street, Brockmoor, Brierley Hill, not guilty of the alleged offence following a trial.
Chairman of the bench Mr David Greenaway said: "He had a responsibility to protect and was entitled to confront the teenage boys.
"He did no more than grab the rucksack. This was a reasonable action in attempt to resolve damage to the vehicle."
Following the verdict, Mr Shafiq said that the case, which resulted in him being suspended from some duties of his work, had cost him £8,000 in earnings.
Mr Shafiq, who has worked in Dudley and Walsall as a Hackney Carriage taxi driver for 18 years, said: "Common sense has prevailed – I should never have been charged for this.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. Taxi drivers are attacked all the time from kids, not just with snowballs, but stones and bricks too."
During the trial, the court heard claims from the 13-year-old boy that Mr Shafiq had shaken him and tried to push him into the back of his taxi during the fracas.
But Mr Shafiq denied the claims, saying he led the boy over to his taxi to see the dent one of the snowballs had made.
The incident happened at 3.30pm on January 25. The boy said one of his friends had decided to throw a single snowball at Mr Shafiq's taxi.
He was transporting a nine-year-old girl and a child escort called Susan Dunn, aged 56, from Brierley Hill, who worked at the Four Star Taxi company.
Mr Shafiq turned the taxi around, pulled up and checked on his passengers before approaching the 13-year-old and his two friends.
