Liverpool taxi driver Hawkar Karimi, 37, jailed for 12 months over 'disgraceful' road rage incident
Liverpool taxi driver Hawkar Karimi, 37, has been jailed for 12 months after admitting to a 'disgraceful' road rage incident in which he chased a motorist and rammed his car.
This is the moment a raging taxi driver fights a motorist and rams his car after he missed a green light.
Shocking dashcam video shows Hawkar Karimi, 37, embroiled in a brutal punching match in the middle of busy Wavertree Road, in Edge Hill, Liverpool, Merseyside.
Mr Karimi was behind the unnamed man at a previous junction and "beeped his horn" at him because he missed a green light, a court was told.
The dad-of-one thought the man had been driving while using his mobile phone, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
The scuffle then erupted after the two men came into contact with Mr Karimi saying he wanted to sort things out "like a man" but had no intention of fighting.
The video - taken from the cabbie's own dashcam - shows the men throwing punches at each other during 10 second road rage incident shortly after 7 pm on September 13 last year.
At one point Mr Karimi falls to the ground as the man lands a punch to his head.
Moments later Mr Karimi gets back into his Hackney carriage and enters a minute-long car chase with the man, reaching speeds of up to 40 mph.
He chased him through a red light on a congested road and smashed into the back of him before they both turn down a narrow residential street.
As the car reaches the busy junction at Edge Lane, Mr Karimi crashes into the back of the man's black Volkswagen for the second time.
The man quickly gets out of the car and runs from the scene before the taxi driver smashes into the back of the car again, making it hit a brick wall outside a furniture shop.
Mr Karimi was subsequently arrested at the scene.
The court was told that he chased the man as he didn't want him to get away with hitting him.
Mr Karimi, who has no previous convictions, told the court he "regretted his behaviour".
Matthew Cullen, defending Mr Karimi, told the court that the taxi driver was a "positively contributing" member of society and that his actions on the day did not show his "true character".
Mr Karimi previously admitted one count of dangerous driving.
Judge Stuart Driver KC labelled Mr Karimi's driving as "disgraceful" before handing him a 12-month imprisonment suspended for a year last week (Oct 20).
He was also given 100 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month probation requirement.
He was also banned from driving for 30 months and ordered to pay a £187 victim surcharge.
Under the Sentencing Act 2026 in March this year, any sentences of 12 months or less must be suspended in all but exceptional circumstances.
Judge Driver said he believed the cabbie should have gone to prison but said there were "no exceptional circumstances" for him to do so.