Hero taxi driver stabbed after protecting stranger during knife attack
'I owe them my life to this day.’
A hero taxi driver was stabbed when he attempted to stop a knifeman from attacking a woman.
Anwar Hussen has been praised after protecting the woman who said she thought she was going to die during the vicious rampage.
Mr Hussen was waiting outside a restaurant in Vicarage Road, Watford, when he witnessed Khaled Ahmed attack the unnamed woman.
He heard her screaming, got out of his taxi and chased after Ahmed, putting himself between the blade and the bleeding woman.
Mr Hussen was stabbed once in his body while the woman was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Ahmed, 39, has now been jailed for 18 years for wounding with intent.
Prosecutor Stefan Weidmann told St Albans Crown Court that Ahmed was an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh and wanted to marry his victim so he could stay in the country.
He had given her £5,400 but she refused his hand in marriage and they met so she could return some of the funds.
Mr Weidmann said the woman, her nephew and Ahmed met in the early hours of the morning in July last year outside the Kasturi restaurant.
He added: ‘The woman had been living in Newcastle and was persuaded in 2017 to come south.
‘In due course a flat was arranged for her in Watford and the defendant would give her money.’
He said Ahmed’s ‘fervent hope’ was for a marriage to her that would legalise his right to stay in the UK.
Mr Weidmann continued: ‘She refused repeated requests to marry.
‘The refusals gave rise to threats of violence from the defendant – threats to kill and to harm her children in her native Bangladesh.
‘The defendant finally accepted she would not marry him.
‘So he declared that all the money he had given her in the months prior was to be repaid to him.’
Ahmed, the woman and her nephew argued at the restaurant and he later began to chase the woman around the street.
The nephew tried to stop the attack and was stabbed in his right hand.
Hero Mr Hussen, who did not know any of those involved, saw the incident and got out of his taxi to run after Ahmed.
Mr Weidmann continued: ‘Mr Hussen got between them and partially tripped.
‘He was on one knee. He put his palms onto the defendant’s middle to prevent further attack.
‘He was stabbed once to upper left side of the torso.’
Ahmed ran away and gave himself up hours later at Forest Green police station in London.
The woman was taken to St Mary’s Hospital with life-threatening injuries, having lost a significant amount of blood.
She was in hospital for 16 days.
In a victim personal statement the woman said: ‘I thought this was my end and I was going to die there. His face was dark and his eyes were bulging out. I genuinely feared for my life. I did not see the knife.
‘If it were not for the actions of this stranger who got in Khaled’s way and allowed me to flee and my nephew, I believe I would have been killed. I owe them my life to this day.’
Mr Hussen said: ‘I really believe it was the defendant’s intention to kill the female. I did not consider my safety, only that I must stop this man. Only with hindsight I realise how terrifying it was.’
Judge Michael Kay said Ahmed had shown no remorse.
He added: ‘This was a horrific, extremely violent attack. It was entirely unprovoked and left two people with very severe injuries, which have been life-changing.’
When released, he said he expected Ahmed to be deported.
Referring to Mr Hussen, said: ‘He demonstrated extreme bravery in stepping in between the defendant and the woman victim. It was circumstances where he could have been killed. He acted entirely out of altruism.
‘He says he believed the defendant had murderous intent. He heard her cry: “He is going to kill me.”
‘He felt it his duty to protect her although he did not know her. He felt he had to stop the man. Only after this event did he realise he had been stabbed.’
Mr Hussen is to be awarded £750.