This is the shocking moment a newly elected mayor hurls punches at a taxi driver in a horrifying road-rage fight.
In video footage available online, Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik – the Mayor of Crawley – is seen brawling with a taxi driver in the middle of the road.
The dad-of-three – who is also a part-time cabbie – is seen wrestling on the ground with another driver before brutally punching him in the head.
The pair of drivers had stopped at the Tushmore Roundabout in Crawley town centre before jumping out of their cars.
According to cops the other man suffered injuries to his arms and head and was knocked unconscious by the Mayor.
It is believed the brawl broke out after the other driver tried to cut into his lane, a witness said.
The Mayor who was only elected in June has not been suspended from his post, and the Labour lead council is yet to comment on the video.
A witness said: “The cabbie tried to cut across his lane, and they wound down each others’ windows before they started screaming at each other.
“It just escalated from there, nobody wanted to get involved because it looked personal.
“He was going for it, it looked like they knew each other, but it was all because the other bloke tried to cut him up at the roundabout.
“It didn’t last long and they just got back into their cabs and drove off, screaming at each other in the end.”
“You just can’t be fighting like a hooligan one week and then attending a children’s football event the next week and be presented as a role model.Councillor Duncan CrowLeader of Crawley Borough Conservatives Group
Another source said: “After his behaviour and acting like that, he will be lucky if he keeps his job, he must be made to step down.”
Councillor Duncan Crow, leader of the Conservative group at the council told The Sun: “The Mayor’s position is untenable and he has to resign.
“Everyone in Crawley knows it’s him in the video and the behaviour he displayed at one of Crawley’s busiest roundabouts is wholly incompatible with being our Mayor, a role where one should lead by example.
DAYLIGHT BRAWL
“You just can’t be fighting like a hooligan one week and then attending a children’s football event the next week and be presented as a role model.
“This has been dragging on for over two weeks and if the Crawley Labour Group of Councillors won’t act to remove him, then Keir Starmer needs to step in.”
Over the weekend the Mayor continued to carry out his duties and attended a children’s football open day.
Mr Abbas Malik was announced as the new Mayor of Crawley at the end of May, and has been a local Labour councillor since 2018.
Sussex Police said a man was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm but has since been released on bail.
Cops have since issued an appeal for any witnesses following the brawl, and asked for any drivers who saw the fight or might have caught it on dash-cam footage to come forward.
A Crawley Borough Council spokeswoman said: “There was an incident on the afternoon of Monday 19 July involving two taxi drivers.
“This incident continues to be investigated by Sussex Police, who have advised us that it is not appropriate to comment on a live investigation.”
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SOURCE: The Sun
