A taxi driver had to have his eyeball removed after it ruptured during a terrifying street attack by a stranger. The victim had decided to move his taxi from outside his home in Sunderland after he was told Jordan Hammond was “trying door handles” in the area in May 2021.
Attack and injuries
Newcastle Crown Court heard the taxi driver was then followed and brutally beaten by Hammond, who shouted “I’m going to f**** kill you, do you know who I am? I’m Jord Hammond, you are f****** dead”.
The court heard the victim suffered a suspected fracture to his eye socket and his eyeball ruptured. There was a “spilling out” of the contents, with heavy bleeding, and it had to be removed.
Victim impact
He was left with post-traumatic stress disorder, could not go to work and said in a victim statement: “This has had a huge impact. My eye was removed as a result of being attacked. I had plastic to hold the eye socket correctly in place for three months and had to have a bespoke false eye made. This has changed me as a person, in a bad way. It has ruined my life.”
Sentencing
Hammond, 34, of Canon Cockin Street, Sunderland, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and has been jailed for four years, with a one-year extended licence period.
Recorder Mark Giuliani said Hammond poses a high risk to the public. The recorder said the victim and his partner had got into the taxi to move it away from their home and Hammond was in the area on a bike.
Recorder Giuliani added: “You said to him ‘I haven’t touched the car, you can leave it there’. Clearly you had been touching cars or else why would you have said that, no-one had accused you of touching any cars. On the face of it, they were simply getting into a car. They got into the taxi intending to drive off and you then started riding parallel with him. You complained he was too close, although you didn’t need to ride next to him. You then pulled in front of the taxi, you got off your bike and he had to stop the car. You stood in front of the taxi, gesturing with your hands, saying ‘I’m going to kill you, don’t you know who I am’. He got out of the taxi and you attacked him. You hit him twice to the right side of his head and face. He tried to defend himself but you carried on attacking him. You pulled his head, causing him to lose balance and he fell to the road. The attack did not stop there, the attack carried on. You carried on hitting him to his face and head while he was on the ground and while doing so you were shouting ‘I’m going to f**** kill you, do you know who I am’.”
The victim’s partner got out of the cab and heard Hammond saying: “Do you know who I am? I’m Jord Hammond, you are f***** dead.”
Recorder Giuliani said the victim bravely intervened, despite being faced with a man who was “high on drink and alcohol”. The recorder said he accepted Hammond did not intend the level of harm he actually caused.
Shaun Routledge said Hammond has had “time to reflect, time to think” since the offence.
