KEY POINTS:
Taxi driver who was kidnapped and locked in the boot of his car is fighting for his life. If he survives, he may never drive again.
Tony Brosnan, 49, from Waitara, was found in his taxi in the Urenui School grounds, north of New Plymouth, at 8.45am on Friday.
Ted Cooper, the owner of Egmont City Cabs, said yesterday that he was "devastated" by the attack on his friend.
Brosnan was thought to have been locked in the car for three hours. Another 45 minutes, said Cooper, and Brosnan would have run out of oxygen and died.
It is the second attack on Brosnan: in January last year, he was assaulted by a bottle-wielding thug while driving his taxi.
He said afterwards that he would consider quitting the business if the attacks continued.
Last night, he remained in Taranaki Base Hospital's intensive care unit in a critical condition.
A group of workers clearing the school grounds had seen the taxi, with its roof light on, parked in a carport by the school dental clinic.
Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward, of New Plymouth police, said that when they went to investigate, they heard a noise from the boot.
"They tapped and there was a response. As a result emergency services were deployed, including the police, and the boot was opened," Coward said. "In it we found the taxi driver. He was very incoherent, distraught and very weak."
Cooper said Brosnan had worked for him for four-and-a-half years.
"He is part of the family," he said. "I'm just absolutely devastated and can't understand why anyone would do that."
Police are still seeking the culprit, who could be charged with aggravated robbery with grievous bodily harm.
Cooper said it was only a matter of time before one of his company's drivers was killed.
