Learner driver 'feared for life' after racial abuse

A child entrepreneur said he feared for his life after being subjected to racist abuse by two people in a company van.

During a driving lesson, Abdullah Navsarka’s car broke down and he was left waiting on the side of Park Hill Road in Coventry just before 21:00 BST on 17 August.

As he and his friend waited to be recovered, a Collins Earthworks van drove past them multiple times while two men repeatedly hurled highly offensive racial slurs and threats, the 18-year-old said.

The contractor that owns the van has issued an apology and said the person responsible no longer works for them.

A video of the ordeal amassed millions of views on social media platforms

“It was kind of crazy and just came out of nowhere,” Mr Navsarka - who is known as Abz - recalled.

He told BBC CWR: “I was in shock, the first time round I thought I might as well record them, the second time they went past, they were recording us too.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen after that or if they were going to do anything else, that’s why I called my brother who came straight away just to be there as a precaution."

Footage of the ordeal has amassed millions of views after being shared on Facebook and TikTok.

The teenager hit the headlines in 2017 after launching his own dessert van business at the age of 12.

He now has aspirations to get the venture back up and running so has been taking lessons in order to be able to drive it himself.

He said: “I see Coventry as a great place, there's a lot of different cultures here but I think people find it a bit jokey when they are doing it and don’t realise the consequences.

'Racist chants'

“In school, people used to say racist chants and they found it funny.

“It has happened to members of my family in the past 12 months, it shouldn’t be one of those things that you have to live with but I think that’s how it’s going to be.”

West Midlands Police confirmed an investigation had been launched and said officers were working to establish what happened and trace whoever was responsible.

A spokesperson for Collins Earthworks said: "We were, and still are, completely horrified by the actions of the person permitted to drive one of the vehicles, on an inner-city street in Coventry, last Saturday night.

“As previously stated, racial abuse has no place in our company, and we will not tolerate anyone found exhibiting such behaviour.

“The person involved no longer works for our company and we are still cooperating with West Midlands police regarding the incident.

“We’re committed to ensuring incidents like this do not happen again, through various equality, diversity and inclusion programmes and training.”