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Thieves assault trucker
Page 9
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• Freightliner's Leeds terminal was severely disrupted for more than a day following a vicious attack on a driver.
The 41-year-old man was parked overnight outside the terminal when he tried to stop someone breaking into his container.
Vikki Askew, spokeswoman for Freightliner, says: "An accomplice attacked the driver with a heavy object, hitting him so hard he split his skull open." She adds that company advice to both train and truck drivers is to lock their cabs and phone the police if they think a break-in is being attempted. "(ff course, in an incident like this your instinct is to go out and do something about it."
She says the unnamed driver, who is recovering in a Leeds hospital and is in a stable condition, was delivering clothes. A spokesman for RG & EA Thackray of York, the driver's employer. says about half of its work is involved with the terminal. He declined to comment further.
The terminal, which handles 2,000 box-movements a week, is next to junction seven of the M621. Access is along a private road where the driver was parked.
Entry was drastically restricted last Thursday and Friday (20-21 March) to allow a thorough forensic examination by police.
Detective Superintendent Jim Bancroft of West Yorkshire Police says: "The victim acted with courage in challenging the thief or thieves, and has been very seriously assaulted as a result."
• Anyone with information snould contact: 0113 2414717.