My taxi driver dad was hacked to death with kitchen knives by strangers…I’m haunted by image of him running for his life
WHEN cabbie Mohammed Istakhar accepted a fare from two young men, one winter night in 2022, he had no idea he had put his life paper.
Taxi driving was a job the 44-year-old from Birmingham had done diligently for over 20 years to provide for his family and he was a trusting man.
So he had no idea picking up passengers Oliver Pugh, 20, and accomplice Luca De-Fazio, 19, would be a fatal decision – which would result in being lured down a country lane, hunted down and stabbed to death.
After the horrific killing, Pugh – who was later found guilty of his murder – and his accomplice, Luca De-Fazio, 19, even went on a sickening joy ride in Mohammed’s taxi.
Now, his heartbroken daughter Mariam Hijab, 26, has spoken out exclusively to The Sun in tribute to her beloved father, who was the heart of her family.
Heartbroken Mariam, an audiologist, says: “Thinking of my dad’s last moments in the dark running for his life is like something out of a horror film.
“I still can’t stop thinking, why my dad?
“There needs to be tighter regulations for taxi drivers driving so late. And there needs to be more education in schools about knife crime so these young people know the impact taking a knife out has on families.”
Dedicated to his family
Mariam’s parents, Mohammed and Nasira Mughal, 46, were happily married for over 20 years and had five children, including Mariam.
Mohammed was a taxi driver for a private company since he was 18 and worked long shifts around Birmingham suburbs and city centre.
Mariam says: “For as long as I could remember, Dad worked back to back shifts and was barely home.
“He always said he did it for us, to provide for our family.
“We told him he worked too hard but he was dedicated to giving us a good home and a good life. We were very grateful to him.”
Thankfully, other than working too hard, Mariam and her family never had no reason to worry about the actual nature of his work.
She says: “Over the years, although Dad worked for a private company which wasn’t safe like Uber, we never worried about him.
“He was muscular and strong so I always thought, who would mess with him! Dad also never worried himself.
“He didn’t bother with dashcams, cameras and protective screens.
“He trusted people.”
‘An awful mistake’
In November 2022, Mariam was still living at home with her family when her dad left to go to work.
Mariam says: “Mum left Dad some curry out to eat and he came home while we were all asleep to have his food, he played with the cat then headed back out at 3am.
After all these years of him being safe out there, my world ended that day
Miriam Hajib
“In the morning, I headed off to work. Dad usually got home for 7am latest but later that day I got a call from my brother while I was seeing a patient at work. I stepped outside to take it and he was shouting that Dad was dead.
“I thought it was an awful mistake.”
Horrific crime scene
Mariam was told that her father hadn’t come home from work that morning.
Her mum had called Mohammed’s phone 100 times, but a stranger answered his phone after finding it in a car-park in Birmingham city centre.
The security guard at a football ground kindly offered to show Mariam’s mother and brother his CCTV to help them track down Mohammed.
But when the family arrived, there was a crime scene down the road and they saw a body was being put into a bag by police.
Mariam says: “My brother begged the police, and they described Dad’s clothing. He knew it was him.
“I rushed home, and detectives were there. They confirmed Dad had been stabbed to death. Bursting into tears, none of us could believe it was real.
“After all these years of him being safe out there. My world ended that day.”
‘Dad begged for his life’
After gathering CCTV footage, police arrested two strangers Mohammed had picked up the night before, Oliver Pugh, 20 and Luca De-Fazio, 19.
They discovered Mohammed had picked the pair up from Broad Street, the clubbing area of Birmingham.
Mariam says: “Oliver lured Dad to a remote country lane by his home. He pretended to get cash but both him and Luca returned with two large kitchen knives.
“Oliver sat next to Dad in the car, and stabbed him ferociously in the chest. Dad managed to jump out and he ran down the road in the darkness, running for his life.
“But they hunted him down. Dad begged for his life, and told them ‘I have a family, I have kids.’
“But Oliver Pugh stabbed again in the thigh and arm. Dad collapsed, and died in a pool of his own blood.
“Hearing how Dad was killed for nothing, and targeted at complete random, broke me. All because he picked them up that night.”
Sickening ‘joy ride’
After the horrific killing, Pugh and De-Fazio stole his taxi and joy-rode in it around the suburbs of Birmingham.
They removed the number plates and taxi livery and crashed into a farmer’s back fence, before fleeing the scene and disposing of the two weapons.
In September 2023, Oliver Pugh, 20, of New Meadow Close, Solihull, Birmingham, was found guilty of murder at Birmingham Crown Court.
He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 27 years.
Luca De-Fazio, 19, of no fixed address, was cleared of murder, but pleaded guilty to possession of a knife and sentenced to one month.
Chicken shop boast
Mariam says: “In court, Oliver and Luca blamed each-other for the killing.
“We soon heard how Oliver had boasted in a Dixy chicken’s shop earlier that night that he was going to ‘rob a taxi tonight.’
“Clearly, he was malicious and inhumane and it could have been anyone targeted that night.
My mum had lost her husband of 25 years; her best friend in the world
Miriam Hajib
“Yet, throughout the trial, Oliver kept his head down, trying to fool the jury that he had remorse and he was a good person.
“But as his sentence of 27 years was read out, Oliver’s façade disappeared and he leapt up, screaming at the judge and me and my partner.
“I was glad the jury saw him for the monster that he really was. But Lucas’s result was sickening.
“I was appalled how he could serve just a month after being so involved in my dad’s killing.
“Now, whilst Oliver sits in prison, and Luca walks the streets, my family and I grieve Dad.”
Family destroyed
Heartbroken Mariam now calls for tighter regulations for taxi-drivers driving so late and for more knife crime awareness in schools.
Mariam says: “Thanks to those two thugs, my brothers and sisters no longer have a father.
“My mum had lost her husband of 25 years; her best friend in the world.
“She visits Dad’s grave every day.
“Whilst I just try to remember him for his big heart and how much he loved us all. Not a minute goes by where we don’t miss him.
“Knife crime destroys so many lives.”
