A thug pulled a taxi driver from his cab and punched him in a shocking attack.
Terrified cabbie Muhammed Naeem managed to record his early hours ordeal, which happened in the Rawthorpe area, on his mobile phone.
In shocking footage played at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court the 47-year-old was heard screaming in fear as Paul Knell smashed his window in and pulled him from the vehicle.
Magistrates warned Knell, 28, that he faces jail when he is sentenced next week.
Knell claimed that he was upset at being labelled ‘a racist’ after the video was posted on the Examiner website.
He pleaded guilty to charges of assault and criminal damage.
The Huddersfield court heard that at 3.4am on June 2 Mr Naeem picked up Knell from outside McDonald’s in Kirkgate.
Knell, of Brownroyd Avenue in Rawthorpe, told the driver to take him to the Dalton area and said that he would give him a more specific address once they got closer.
When the vehicle got to St James Way in Rawthorpe, Knell asked Mr Naeem to stop.
He tried to open the door but found it locked and told Mr Naeem to continue further to Heys View .
He said that he wanted number 23, however the house numbers only went up to 16 and Mr Naeem became suspicious that he didn’t intend to pay his fare.
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Prosecutor Tariq Boston said: “He told him to go to some flats further down the road and they arrived in the car park.
“The male said he would go and get some money to pay the fare and Mr Naeem asked for some identification in case he didn’t come back.
“The male offered some tobacco which Mr Naeem didn’t accept.”
Knell’s mobile then rang and he was heard telling someone to come out from the flats and pay for him.
Mr Naeem told him that the fare had increased from £7 to £8 due to the time he had spent waiting.
Mr Boston said: “He (Knell) was still in the back trying to open the door, saying he needed to use the toilet.
“He said: ‘I’ll do a p**s in your taxi’ and was told to calm down (but) he was very angry and continued swearing.”
Knell’s friend came over and paid the fare at which point Mr Naeem warned Knell not to do anything wrong as he was filming him.
Mr Boston said: “He unlocked the door, Knell came straight round to the driver’s window and punched the window with his bare hands.
“The window smashed straight through (and) Me Naeem was very shocked and scared.
“Knell grabbed hold of his clothing and pulled him from the taxi, shouting words such as ‘b*****d’.
“Mr Naeem was terrified and screaming in fear, the second male was telling Knell to stop it.”
The driver was so afraid that he ran away around the corner and called police when he returned to his vehicle and found that the men had left.
Magistrates heard that two charges against Knell with a racially-aggravated element had been dropped.
His solicitor Sonia Kidd said that he was upset at coming across as racist after Mr Knell handed the footage over to the Examiner and it was posted online alongside his story.
READ MORE: Watch: Taxi driver subjected to a terrifying assault in Dalton
She added: “This young man was sickened when he looked at the video.
“He was locked in the car and that’s led to his behaviour which was not appropriate.
“This gentleman was serving the public in his role as a taxi driver.”
Magistrates ordered a full report ahead of Knell’s sentencing on February 5 but warned him that they had not ruled out custody.
