Maimed over $12 fare

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A Hamilton man pleaded guilty today to maiming a cab driver in an aggravated assault three years ago. 22 year-old Zachariah Ristic told the judge his guilty plea was completely voluntary. In July 2013, he beat up then 55-year-old Muhammad Sajid who was his cab driver, to avoid paying a $12 fare. Sajid was at court today but didn’t sit in the room to watch the guilty plea, nor did he want to talk about his ordeal.

Ristic’s lawyer says Ristic doesn’t agree with everything Sajid says happened that night but he was too drunk to be able to say for sure under oath. Court heard Sajid followed after Ristic left the cab without paying, then Ristic ran at him with a head butt that left him on the pavement with no feeling in his leg. Sajid was then punched and kicked in the head, while his attacker threatened, “I am going to kill you.” He was left moaning on the ground until discovered by a passerby. Court was told he now has a metal plate in his leg and can no longer support his wife and five children.

Hamilton cabbies remember Sajid’s attack. They say attacks happen so frequently they don’t even bother reporting the less serious ones. Since Sajid was attacked, cameras were installed in cabs and that has helped.

Both crown and defence lawyers asked that Ristic be given a three year prison sentence and Justice Glithero seemed to agree it was an appropriate sentence. He doesn’t come back for sentencing until Dec 9th though and Ristic will be out on bail until then.