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POLICE investigating an assault on a taxi driver in Stoneham Lane, Eastleigh are renewing their appeal for information one year later.

It was a year ago that 52-year-old Derek Fletcher was attacked, shortly after picking up a passenger in Southampton Road, Eastleigh.

The taxi was called from a telephone box on the corner of Southampton Road and Chestnut Avenue and the passenger asked to be taken to Stoneham Lane.

Police were called at approximately 3am on Monday, May 21 to Stoneham Lane.

It is believed that Mr Fletcher was attacked by his passenger, who then attempted to set fire to him and his vehicle.

Mr Fletcher sustained extensive burn injuries to the lower left side of his body as a result of the incident. A year later Mr Fletcher has made a good recovery, he said: "I have been able to get back to work and am feeling good. I have driven in the area of Stoneham Lane a number of times since the attack and am very lucky not to have suffered any flashbacks.

"I do still worry that the person who attacked me is still out there and needs to be caught, someone out there knows who was responsible and I would encourage anyone who has any information to contact the police as soon as they can."

Since the attack police have conducted a number of enquiries including viewing hours of CCTV footage, taking in excess of 50 statements from people living nearby and carrying out a number of searches in the area.

The incident also featured on BBC's Crimewatch programme in August 2007.

A reward for information leading to a conviction is still outstanding and £3000 has been contributed by Crimstopppers and £1000 by the local authority Community Safety Partnership.

"Rewards are paid anonymously," says Simon Theobalds who is the project co-ordinator for the Crimestoppers charity in Hampshire.

"Callers have to keep in touch with us, because we can not ring them. We take no details about our callers when they ring 0800 555 111 and do not record the calls nor capture the numbers. We simply pass relevant information on to the police, sanitized so that there can be no link back to the caller. No one will know you phoned.

"If an arrest is made as a result of Crimestoppers information and the caller has got back in touch, they will be given a code number and invited to nominate a bank or building society.

"The reward will be sent to the manager of the firm they chose along with a code. The caller then has only to visit that office, ask to see the manager in private and give the number. There is no paperwork nor the need of a signature The money is simply handed over in cash."

On Tuesday, (May 21) police conducted additional searches of the area around Stoneham Lane. This involved specialist search units and the dog support unit.

Some items of clothing believed to have been worn by the offender have not yet been recovered. These items may be blood stained as Mr Fletcher lost a significant amount of blood during the incident.

The Eastleigh Safer Neighbourhoods team was also speaking to nearby residents and distributing witness appeal leaflets to properties in the vicinity.

Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Murray is leading the investigation. He said: "This is an extremely complex enquiry. We are still following a number of lines of enquiry as a result of our investigations so far but, I am continuing to appeal to anyone who has not yet contacted us to do so. Information they consider to be insignificant could be vital to our investigation and provide the breakthrough we need.

"I am particularly keen to speak to local residents of Eastleigh, particularly those living in the Southampton Road, Chestnut Avenue and Stoneham Lane areas. I believe that local people hold the key to this investigation. It may be that the person responsible for this violent act has confided in others shortly after he committed the crime, it may be that that person or people now feel able to contact the police with the information.

"If anyone is concerned about talking directly to the police, they can contact Crimstopppers on 0800 555 111 and leave the information anonymously, alternatively they can call Eastleigh CID on 0845 045 45 45 quoting Operation Seymour."

10:48am Wednesday 21st May 2008

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