Cab driver 'thought he would die' after passenger bit off his nose in violent attack

Abiodun Olatunji was left with a damaged nose, broken bones in his hand and leg, smashed teeth and bite marks all over his face.
Abiodun Olatunji
John Dunne @jhdunne19 December 2018
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A cab driver whose nose was bitten off by a passenger in a row over a fare said today: “I thought I was going to die.”

Abiodun Olatunji, 51, has undergone four facial reconstruction operations since the thug pinned him down in the frenzied attack. Police hunting the assailant have issued a CCTV image.

The father-of-three picked up the man at the cab firm’s Romford office and had driven a few miles when the passenger became agitated and demanded a different destination.

Mr Olatunji said: “He started to hit the back of my seat. I told him he’d booked for the place where I stopped but he told me to drive on.

“He was telling me to go down this dark road where there was no one around. I started to get scared. I pulled over and said he should get out. He did and I locked the door but he then just stood in front of the car, not letting me leave.

Police appeal: Officers want to speak to this man
@MPSRedbridge/Twitter

“I didn’t get out but I saw he’d left his sunglasses so I opened the window to give them to him. He took the opportunity to reach in the car and pulled out my dash-cam.”

Thinking the man had fled, Mr Olatunji got out to retrieve the camera containing footage of the incident but was then attacked. He said: “He pulled off a wing mirror and started hitting me with it. I was on the ground trying to fight back when his mouth went on my nose. There was terrible pain and blood spurting. I thought he was going to finish me off.

“I thought I was going to die there and never see my family again. He continued to hit me, I was screaming for help.”

Two women in a passing car alerted police. “By the grace of God they came along, otherwise I was a goner,” said Mr Olatunji, who lives with his wife, two sons and daughter in Dartford.

He has only now returned to work six months after the attack, which happened shortly before midnight on May 26. Skin grafted from his forehead has been used to repair his nose and he was also left with broken bones in his hand and leg, smashed teeth and bite marks all over his face.

Mr Olatunji said: “I still cannot work at night, fearing every customer will attack me. My children say to me ‘daddy why don’t you smile any more?’

“I’m a changed man, I don’t laugh like I used to. The police, with the help of the public, need to catch this vicious man. I think he may have been on drugs.” The attacker also stole his wallet containing £300 and took the dashcam.

Detective Constable Gill Garrett said: “We have released an image of a man we would like to speak to and would urge anyone who recognises him to contact us as a matter of urgency.”

  • Anyone with information is asked to call East Area CID on 020 8345 3512 or 101, Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org

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