Cab CCTV snares driver's racist attacker

A PASSENGER who carried out a racist attack on a mini-cab driver has been jailed after the assault was captured by an in-car CCTV camera.

Ashley Marlow was sentenced to eight months in prison after admitting the assault on a DG Cars driver in Carlton Road, Sneinton, in November.

filmed: Footage from the taxi's CCTV showed the sequence of events and helped convict the attacker.
caught: The attacker is filmed.

The 34-year-old is believed to be the first person in the city to be convicted using CCTV footage taken from inside a taxi (story continues below footage).

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The driver, a 37-year-old Iranian national, said the attack took place after he stopped his car and asked Marlow to get out.

He had become tired of being racially abused as he tried to clarify where he wanted to go.

"He started swearing at me and grabbed my radio microphone," he said. "I pressed the emergency button on my computer meter and asked my base to send drivers to me.

"I told him that he should be careful as there was a camera in the vehicle and he went to grab my sat nav but could not rip it out.

"He sat back and began swearing again before punching my head three times.

"I opened my door and got out and he also got out and started trying to hit me again."

Marlow was arrested and handcuffed after police arrived on the scene.

He ran off as officers were interviewing the attacked DG Cars driver only to be caught again minutes later.

The assaulted driver said: "I picked him up on Parliament Street in the city centre.

"He was swearing at girls outside the car. I was wary of him so I turned on my CCTV camera."

During a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court last month Marlow, of Bendigo Lane, Sneinton, admitted racially aggravated common assault in relation to the attack, which happened at around 6.30pm on November 5.

He was jailed for eight months.

He also admitted assaulting a police constable and possession of cannabis. He was given a two-month concurrent sentence for the police officer assault.

The victim, who does not want to be named, enlisted the help of Nottingham South MP Alan Simpson in his dealings with the police.

In a letter to the driver, Mr Simpson wrote: "I know that assaults of taxi drivers are a matter of serious concern in the city, not just among drivers themselves.

"One of the problems is that such assaults regularly take place in circumstances where there is no evidence of the assault and no clear identity of the perpetrators.

"Your case gives the police the opportunity to pursue a change that would send out a message which carries a far wider significance."

Ian Pole, director of DG Cars, which has bases in the city centre and Sherwood, said the decision to install CCTV cameras in their vehicles last year had followed an increase in attacks on drivers. They are still the only taxi or private hire car company in the city to do so.