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A growing number of truck drivers are falling prey to violent attacks, both by thieves and by foreigners protesting about the end of trade barriers. The long-term effects can be psychological as well as physical.
• A single blow from behind crippled John Lloyd for life.
He had gone to investigate a noise at the back of his 40ft reefer unit during an overnight stop in Birmingham; the street he was parked in was deserted, lined with factories and warehouses with a pub at the far end. It was just after midnight.
Lloyd still only has hazy memories of the incident: he never saw the attacker who stole more than £1,400 and left him paralysed from the neck down. Three months later the former army PT instructor is still receiving treatment at the Spinal Injuries Unit, Southport, but he seems condemned to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Violent attacks on truckers are nothing new, but they have become more common during the past year. Two nights after Lloyd was robbed, another trucker was knocked unconscious in similar circumstances, also in Birmingham.
HEADACHES
Derek Shannon, who works for Blackman's International Import of North London, was robbed of £220. He returned to work at the end of last month, but is still suffering from headaches.
Other truckers have been attacked for their loads. In December owner-driver Michael Paxton was asleep in his Mercedes 1735 at Newport Pagnell Services on the M1 when thieves smashed in the side of his cab window at about 13:00hrs.
Paxton was forced to lie face down while they drove to Kent, unhitching his £140,000 load of whisky on the way. He was then tied up in his cab for eight hours.
On the Continent drivers also face violence stirred up by the lowering of trade barriers. Attacks by French farmers on British lamb trucks are the most common, but they are not the only targets.
Nearly 18 months ago owner-driver Mick Blunt was threatened at knife-point and had his Mercedes 2028 vandalised by Spanish drivers campaigning to protect their rates from foreign competition.
Although John Lloyd's injury is probably the worst so far, any violent attack could have the same outcome. Detective Inspector Peter Higgins, who is in charge of Lloyd's case, says: "His is very similar to a whiplash injury — just a straight blow delivered in a certain way. You can never judge the outcome of any form of violence."
Lorry drivers who park in isolated areas are the most obvious targets for thieves, but staying in an official lorry park is often seen as too costly. And parking alongside other trucks is no guarantee of safety. Paxton says there was at least one other rig parked alongside his when he was attacked.
SUSPICIOUS
Drivers who hear suspicious noises while parked overnight could try to contact the police through their mobile phones or radios, and personal attack alarms might deter would-be assailants.
Dennis Mills, the TGWU Midland drivers' organiser, believes that the recent spate of attacks have strengthened the argument for every driver to be accompanied by a mate, particularly when carrying high-value loads.
He claims that the problem of violence has been exacerbated by the spread of restrictions on
loading and unloading times in many shopping centres: "With more and more of these restrictions coming in drivers are forced to park up overnight to fit in with the delivery times," he says.
HAVENS
On the Continent one of the safest havens for truckers to park — barring disputes — is at border posts because they are well lit and generally have plenty of wagons overnighting.
The main danger areas are in southern Europe. Mike Billingham, national development manager for Owner Operators UK (00UK), warns that Spain, Italy and France are particularly bad: "The problem is clearly growing; hardly a month goes by now without a British trucker being attacked," he says.
In December three Scottish drivers were threatened at gunpoint and beaten up by dockers in Marseilles after stumbling on an illegal short-load racket.
In November Stockport-based owner-operator Stewart Warrender was attacked and robbed of .M,000 after pulling into a lay-by near Como, north of Milan. Thugs tied him up, pulled back his eyelids and sprinkled powdered glass into his eyes in an attempt to blind him.
Warrender reckons that British truckers are regarded as soft targets by Italian crooks because they do not carry guns for self defence: "I've been told the number of attacks on drivers ran into double figures in December," he says.
When drivers are attacked they usually take some time to come to terms with what has happened. Warrender says he is still jumpy and nervous: "I think my personality has changed to some extent — if somebody said the wrong thing to me now I wouldn't think twice about knocking them to the floor. It's something I don't like about myself."
John Lloyd was initially dazed and depressed but has now come to terms with his condition, according to his employer, Brookfield Farms of Lancaster.
Derek Shannon says he was unable to talk about his attack for some weeks: "It was like my head was full of cotton wool. I could not believe it had happened to me. I tried to bottle it up a bit."
The psychological damage from a violent attack often outlasts physical injuries, Anthony Peterson still suffers from bouts of depression, more than six months after being battered unconscious with a piece of wood on the outskirts of