Terror as taxi thugs rip out CCTV camera
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by Rachel Hovenden
A taxi driver beaten and robbed says police have not looked at
CCTV footage that could identify the thugs.
Barry Bushell says he has been told it would cost £300 to
"process the footage" from a fellow cab parked behind him.
Cameras were put in every Gravesend Hackney taxi following the
murder of driver Gian Chand Bajar in May 2007.
Mr Bushell, 63, who knew the victim, says his ordeal brought
back memories of the killing that shocked the whole town.
He described how a passenger grabbed him around the throat in
Rose Street, Northfleet, while another demanded: "Give us your
notes."
They fled with a cash box and snatched his own camera on the
way.
About the police response to the potential footage, Mr Bushell
said: "It's crazy."
Mr Bushell picked up two men and a woman, from New Road,
Gravesend at about 12.50am on Saturday.
They asked to be dropped in Rose Street, Northfleet near The
Hive.
When there, a passenger in the back seat grabbed Mr Bushell
round the throat while another punched him in the head demanding
his cash.
He said: "My thoughts were to hang on to my money and get them
out of the car. I didn't know if they had a knife."
Then the front passenger grabbed the blue cash tin, containing
about £20, before all three ran off towards Ebbsfleet.
They had ripped out the CCTV camera from Mr Bushell's black
Skoda Octavia during the attack.
Mr Bushell, who is married with five grandchildren, spent four
hours at Darent Valley Hospital after having problems
breathing.
He suffered bruised ribs and bruising to his face and head.
Mr Bushell,
who has been mugged four times during his decades as a taxi driver,
is concerned as he told police that one of his drivers, who was
waiting behind him in the taxi rank, had a CCTV camera which could
have picked up the people who had got in his taxi.
He said: "I've been told it would costs £300 to process the CCTV
footage. The council say it is the police's responsibility but the
police say it is the council's. It is crazy."
Mr Bushell said one of his attackers was a white woman, about
25, large, with blonde and red hair in a pony tail. She wore jeans
and a floral top.
The men were both white, and about 25. One is thought to be
about 5ft 8in, stocky, with short black hair and wore dark
clothes.
Kent Police were unable to comment on Mr Bushell's claims about
the CCTV footage.
Anyone with information is asked to phone DC Claire Hartill on
01474 366093 quoting reference XY/002139/12 or Kent Crimestoppers,
anonymously, on 0800 555111.
Thursday, January 26 2012
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