June 13, 2008
Taxi driver attacker jailed
A DRUNKEN lout accused of robbing a taxi driver during a trip to St Albans was jailed today for common assault.
Mr Babul Islam, who works for a private hire company in St Albans, told a jury this week how he was attacked then robbed of his mobile phone and £100 by 23-year-old Daryl Munjic in the early hours of October 23, last year.
Munjic of Whippendell Road, Watford, denied theft and common assault but was convicted of the latter at St Albans Crown Court this afternoon.
The jury found him guilty by a majority of ten to two.
Prosecutor Heather Shimmen told the court how Mr Islam collected Munjic and another man from Vale Court in Wheathampstead that evening for a trip into Marshalswick.
But, a few minutes into the journey, the pair changed their plans and demanded the cabbie take them back to their pick up point.
Miss Shimmen said back in Vale Court the driver asked for his money, but Mr Munjic refused to hand over any payment and tried to hit him with a beer bottle he was holding.
The victim told the court: "I was worried and scared and I thought it was better and wise for me to leave the scene. The person who was talking to me was holding a bottle of beer."
But before he was able to drive off, Mr Islam said Munjic leaned inside his window and grabbed his mobile phone and a purse containing £100.
And as the terrified driver made his escape, the defendant repeatedly kicked his car.
Munjic denied the allegations and claimed he and his friend had arranged to meet a couple of girls in St Albans when they cancelled the arrangements mid-journey.
With the plans altered the defendant said he asked the driver to return to Vale court.
At this point the fare on the metre was around £6, but Mr Islam demanded they pay the full £20 fare they had been quoted by the taxi firm.
The defendant, who insisted he wasn't drunk at the time of the incident, said when he refused to hand over more than £10 Mr Islam became abusive calling him and his friend time wasters'.
Munjic was cleared of theft, but found guilty of common assault.
Sentencing him to a six-week jail term, Judge Michael Baker QC told the defendant: "Taxi drivers provide a useful 24-hour service to the community. They are entitled to protection from drunk louts who bully them late at night and think they can get away with it."
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