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By SUE ALLEN, 27 January 2004 (Stuff, NZ)
A taxi driver attacked and robbed by teenage girls cannot believe the "speed and aggression" of the assault.
Hassan Adam collected a group of girls, aged between 14 and 15, at Manners St, Wellington, about 2am on Sunday. He said they directed him to a vacant section on Paterson St in Mt Victoria where he was beaten and robbed of $40.
"They were just young girls, I didn't expect any threat from them."
Mr Adam – who came to New Zealand from Somalia via Malaysia in 1999 – said that, though he was used to drunks and being verbally abused when driving his cab, he had never been physically attacked before.
Nursing a swollen eye and lip, Mr Adam said yesterday he was considering looking for another job.
He had been driving a taxi part-time for two years to keep his family and support his studies. He recently won a scholarship to continue studying English teaching at Victoria University. He is also a volunteer worker for the Somalian community.
Though Mr Adam said the girls appeared to have been drinking, he did not think they were drunk when he picked them up.
"I thought they were excited. They came very quickly in to the car . . . after that they've been very quiet, they haven't spoken to me or each other."
Mr Adam alleged he heard a loud bang and, "without any notice, or saying anything", one of the girls hit him on the head from behind.
"It was something quite heavy but not something sharp. I am not sure if it was their hand or what, but I got dizzy immediately and it made blood come from my nose."
Mr Adam then spoke of a brutal attack during which he was hit, punched, kicked and robbed after being pulled from his cab.
After taking his money, the girls ran off through Wellington East Girls College.
"They are just young. I don't know what is wrong with them, they are so aggressive and violent . . . I believe they are expert. I think they know and they planned because (of) the way they did things."
Police have charged three girls with aggravated robbery. They are due to appear before the Youth Court tomorrow.
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