Cabbie turns detective to clear name

Aamer Shahzad, 31, from Bradford, feared he could be sent to prison and lose his licence after being quizzed by police over the allegations that he slapped the two-year-old for jumping on his car seats.

The case against him was eventually dropped when the frantic driver retraced his journey and found the damning CCTV footage from a nearby shop which showed it was actually the mother who assaulted her own son.

The mother, in her 20s, later admitting making up the story against Mr Shahzad after panicking when she realised she had left red marks on her son’s legs and feared she would get into trouble.

The woman who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted assault and perverting the course of justice on July 25 this year and was earlier this week given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and made the subject of a supervision order for two years.

Recorder Simon Jackson praised Mr Shahzad’s determination to uncover the truth.

He said: “One has only to consider or speculate as to what might have been the consequences for this unfortunate taxi driver, Mr Shahzad, if he had not got the good sense and determination to pursue an inquiry and obtain evidence which may never have been available but for his diligence, which revealed the assailant in this case was the defendant and not Mr Shahzad.

After the hearing, Mr Shahzad, who works for Normanton-based Local Cars, said: “When the truth came out I was relieved. I didn’t understand what she had against me. All I did was pick her up and drop her off. If I had not got the CCTV footage my livelihood could have been ruined.”