Hawke's Bay taxi drivers fume at home detention sentence for bashing, say violence on job is getting worse

A Havelock North taxi driver bashed to the point of a brain bleed says a home detention sentence handed down to his attacker sends an appalling message.

The Hawke's Bay taxi community has been rallying around Joga Singh-Chamber since the July 9 attack in Flaxmere.

But his fellow drivers say they're already struggling to find staff willing to take passengers and brazen acts of violence are becoming a problem that needs a stronger deterrent.

Samoan national Seilala Kameti, 33, was sentenced in the Hastings District Court on Tuesday on a charge of wounding with intent to injure, after the late night attack on Singh-Chamber.

The summary of facts stated Kameti, an RSE (recognised seasonal employer) worker, was drunk at the time of the attack and mistakenly thought Singh-Chamber, 62, had taken his phone after dropping him off.

That led to Kameti punching the victim twice in the head, causing severe injuries.

Havelock North resident Joga Singh-Chamber is still recovering after being assaulted while driving a taxi in July. Photo / Warren Buckland

Singh-Chamber was flown to Wellington Hospital with a broken jaw and a brain bleed.

He spent three weeks in hospital and it took weeks for him to begin walking again.

He has been unable to work since the attack.

Kameti, who had pleaded guilty, was ordered to pay the victim $5000 for emotional harm, and given eight months home detention at an address in Hastings.

He will then be deported.

During the sentencing, Judge Chris Sygrove heard that Kameti had a clean record and had been raised in a supportive household.

The judge acknowledged that Kameti was not used to drinking alcohol in Samoa but had found it easily accessible in New Zealand, which had affected him that night.

Kameti also had the support of his employer, which did not condone his actions, but provided him with a statement.

Joga Singh-Chamber will undergo another surgery next week as part of his recovery. Photo / Warren Buckland

Singh-Chamber, who has lived in Hawke's Bay for over 30 years, told Hawke's Bay Today he believed his attacker should have been jailed and then deported.

He had suffered greatly as a result of the attack.

"I can't eat properly. I can't work - my body is shaking. It is not very good."

He woke up in hospital three days after the attack and has undergone two surgeries on his jaw, including having two titanium plates inserted.

A third surgery is planned for next week.

Singh-Chamber was working part-time as a taxi driver and owns two businesses, a cafe and a contracting business.

The latter have suffered badly from his inability to work for three months.

His friend Jaswinder Sehjal, who works as a taxi driver, was shocked when he learned of the sentence.

"He (Kameti) should be in jail. It's as simple as that."

He said a lot of taxi drivers were concerned for their safety, and "nobody wants to drive".

Another friend and taxi driver, Harry, who did not want his surname published, said he was also seriously assaulted while on the job about two years ago near Havelock North.

Small Passenger Service Association (formerly known as The New Zealand Taxi Federation) executive director Warren Quirke said his association had its annual conference in Napier on Wednesday where safety concerns associated with the profession were again raised.

"We've had safety concerns for many years - going back to 2010 to 2011 we had two taxi drivers murdered."

He said the organisation had noted a dramatic drop off in assaults and threatening behaviour from passengers and drivers after cameras, 24/7 GPS monitoring and duress alarms became standard for taxis in cities.

But Quirke was concerned the problem had resurfaced again after changes to the Land Transport Act in 2017 which loosened the regulation encouraging those security measures to allow ride shares to operate.

"We've had some data come through about sexual assault allegations and poor behaviour and it is quite damning how it has increased since 2017. It's quite worrying."

He said there had even been an instance at Wednesday's annual meeting, where a taxi company manager was called away when one of their drivers pressed their duress alarm after being threatened by their passengers.

"It sounds like things were going to escalate to an assault, the driver did use the duress button, the police were called and it was stopped in its tracks."

Former Multicultural Association Hawke's Bay president Sukhdeep Singh said $5000 compensation was "nothing to the loss of income Joga has had".

"Not just that, the emotional and physical stress over all that time has impacted not only him but all his family, friends and the workers who work for him."

He had spoken with police who were supportive of trying to improve safety for taxi drivers.