Aubrey McClennon, the taxi-driver stabbed by a man believed to be mentally unsound, remained in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital yesterday, having completed surgery on his intestines.

He was in a stable condition and is recovering, a relative said. The relative said that McClennon, of Haslington, East Coast Demerara, is conscious and talking. He is feeling less pain. McClennon was repeatedly stabbed by the man at a city car park on Saturday. The man was later restrained and handed over to police. The incident occurred just after 10 am outside Kwality at the Berbice car park. The taxi-driver sustained two stab wounds in his chest, two to his lower abdomen and several slashes on his hands.

Reports are that McClennon called ‘Jack’, a popular driver at the car park, was at his car closing a door when the man pounced on him. He was stabbed at least twice before fleeing his car to seek cover under a minibus a short distance away, but his attacker pursued him. Eyewitnesses told Stabroek News that the man might have been watching McClennon before he decided to attack. One account was that the man was standing across the road from McClennon looking in his direction before approaching him.

“I didn’t know is attack he attacking da man ya know,” an eyewitness had said. He said many persons at the park only realized what was happening when the man brandished a long blade and started stabbing McClennon, who at that time, was attempting to hide under the minibus. The man managed to stab McClennon a few more times before people intervened and pulled the severely wounded taxi-driver from under the minibus. His attacker tried to fight his way through the crowd with the blade and was severely beaten by the angry crowd.

Stabroek News was told that city police had to rescue the man from the crowd and reports are that even after he was in custody people tried to attack him. Persons said that the man has mental issues and has been in trouble with the law numerous times since he returned to Guyana as a deportee. “This man head ain’t good, he been in so many stories before,” a woman had told this newspaper. She had said the man lived in her village on the East Coast and that even people there are afraid of him.