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A British boxer is set to face 33 years in a Turkish prison after an alleged assault on a taxi driver while out in Istanbul. Footage has since been released of Brit, Ross Kitchen, becoming agitated with the driver, Kadir Bicer, before launching himself over the front seat and assaulting the 56-year-old.
The case is currently being tried in Istanbul’s 18th High Criminal Court, Calagyan courthouse. Fighter, Kitchen, claimed his actions were out of fear, stating he suffers from panic attacks and believed at the time he was in danger.
“I wasn’t feeling well even before coming to Turkey… I thought I was being kidnapped. That’s why I attacked,” he told the judges.
The incident itself took place in April of this year, after Bicer had picked Kitchen up from Istanbul’s airport, with the journey then heading into the city. Prosecutors claimed it was during this time that Kitchen began to feel agitated before going on to attack the driver as they made headway along the highway.
The dashcam footage shows how the boxer slipped one arm around the driver’s throat, while using the other to twist his face before going on to poke the victim’s eyes, obstructing his vision as they continued through the heavy traffic.
Just seconds later, the taxi pulls up, and you see both men exit the car onto the tarmac, proceeding to grapple with each other until Bicer eventually broke free.
It was alleged that the Brit fighter left Bicer for dead on the roadside until he was eventually found by a fellow taxi driver, who phoned for paramedics who rushed him to hospital, where he was placed in a coma, spending time in the intensive care unit. He has since told the court the attack has left him permanently injured.
“Part of my face is still numb, I can’t see from one eye, I lost some movement, and at night I wake up screaming,” the taxi driver claimed.
Before going on to state: “I want justice.”
Bicer also accused Kitchen of stealing 60,000 Turkish Lira (£1,094) and 45 Euros (£45) during the assault.
“I was told he would pay £30 to go to Taksim, but I said I’d only charge what the meter shows,” Bicer said.
Prosecutors have since charged Kitchen with ‘aggravated intentional injury causing bone fractures with monstrous sentiment and aggravated robbery’ on the 4th of November, with them seeking a sentence between 13 and 33 years in prison.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Kitchen has assaulted a Turkish national. In September, on a flight going towards Antalya, Kitchen was again caught up for an alleged assault after punching a fellow passenger mid-flight, leading to an emergency landing. It is unclear how the incident started.
