A TAXI driver cleared of stealing David Lammy’s suitcases has claimed the Deputy PM slapped him during their seven-hour cab ride row.
Nassim Mimun clashed with the Justice Secretary and his wife Nicola Green over a £700 fare while driving them across Italy and France in April.
The driver, 40, claimed Mr Lammy turned violent while he wrote out a bill.
He said: “He starts saying, “f***ing French, f***ing French” and I took several blows. He hit me [on the neck] with the palm of his hand.”
Mr Mimun went on: “I thought he was going to come for me and that there would be a fight. That’s why I drove off.
“This made the police think I was guilty.
“Thankfully the court believed me.
“This was nasty – I could have gone to jail.
“It is Lammy who is the thief, he hasn’t paid me the extra sum I was owed.”
Mr Mimun had theft charges — after he drove off with the couple’s bags still in his car, which he handed in the next day — dismissed by a French court last week.
Mr Lammy has denied any wrongdoing.
A source said: “The driver’s claims about David Lammy and his wife are total nonsense.”
