[James]

Cabby's fury over assault

Dec 19 2005


By Matt Casey, The Evening Chronicle


Two Big Brother contestants helped stop an assault on a Tyneside taxi driver.

Taxi driver Michael Potts was pulling into the Baja Beach Club on Gateshead Quayside in the early hours when a man slammed his hand on the windscreen.

Shocked Mr Potts, of Windy Nook ,Gateshead, married with two children, shouted out of his open door window that he wasn't able to pick him up.

The man then grabbed the driver's door and punched him in the face through the open window.

Mr Potts got out and started waving at CCTV cameras to alert police but the attacker threw him back into his taxi and tried to assault him again.

The attacker was then pulled away by three men. Mr Potts recognised two of the trio as Victor Ebuwa and Jason Cowan, contestants in Channel Four's Big Brother last year.

Police were called, arrested the man and took him to Gateshead Police Station. But Mr Potts was horrified to learn his attacker had just been given a caution.

Mr Potts, 44, is now seeking legal advice for a private prosecution against his attacker. He said: "They told me he admitted common assault.

"I cannot believe someone can attack me in front of witnesses and CCTV cameras and then get away almost without punishment.

"He was a giant of a man and looked like a bouncer, and he was definitely with the Big Brother contestants."

Mr Potts, who suffered a swollen eye and pains in his cheek, was treated by a doctor and was off work a fortnight. He said: "Under the police The Party's Over Campaign people are being fined for being sick in the street, yet this man gets away with just a caution for an assault.

"People like taxi drivers should be protected by the police. I'm disgusted by the attitude of the police." A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "A man, 37, from Cheshire was cautioned following the assault.

"We follow national guidelines regarding cautions which are approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

"This was a common assault by a man with no previous convictions and a decision was taken that a caution was the most appropriate action."

London agents for the Big Brother pair said they knew nothing of the incident. Jason and Victor were in the show last year with Michelle Bass of Dinnington.

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