Liverpool taxi driver David Perry ‘lucky’ to survive terror attack

A taxi driver praised by Boris Johnson after the Liverpool ­terrorist attack is ‘lucky’ to be alive rather than a hero, his wife insists.

Police and forensic officers carry out a fingertip search at Liverpool Women’s Hospital where a man was killed when the taxi in which he was riding exploded. Picture: Getty Images

A taxi driver praised by Boris Johnson after the Liverpool ­terrorist attack is “lucky” to be alive rather than a hero, his wife insists.

David Perry appears to have been saved from fatal injury by a plastic anti-coronavirus screen that separated him from the passenger, who set off an explosive device in the back seat as they arrived at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in England’s northwest.

Initial reports suggested that Mr Perry, a father of two, spotted the bomb, leapt out of the car and locked the man in before the blast just before 11am on Sunday.

Mr Perry told a friend that he had seen the passenger fiddling with something moments before the blast knocked him out. ­Security video showed the driver stumbling out of the car after regaining consciousness. The cab is then engulfed in flames.

Mr Perry was treated for burns, shrapnel wounds to his back and injuries to his left ear. He discharged himself on Sunday night.

Taxi driver David Perry.

His wife Rachel praised the doctors and nurses who had treated her husband, and the police. She wrote in a social media message shared by friends: “He is doing OK but is extremely sore and just trying to process what’s happened.

“There are a lot of rumours flying about him being a hero … but the truth of the matter is, he is without doubt lucky to be alive. The explosion happened while he was in the car and how he managed to escape is an utter miracle. He certainly had some guardian angels looking over him.”

The terrorism threat level in Britain has been raised to ­“severe”, meaning an attack is “highly likely”.

The decision to increase the threat from “substantial” by intelligence agency MI5 was ­because Sunday’s blast was the second terrorist attack within a month. On October 15, Conservative MP David Amess was stabbed to death at a constituency meeting in southwest ­England. Ali Harbi Ali, 25, has been charged with his murder as well as the preparation of terrorist acts.

Home Secretary Priti Patel made it clear that there was no specific intelligence to suggest another attack was imminent and that the decision reflected the increase in terrorist activity.

The terrorism threat level had been classed as “substantial” since February, when it was raised from “moderate”, the second-lowest rating, which means an attack is possible but not likely.

The Prime Minister praised Mr Perry on Monday morning before the full circumstances ­became known.

“It does look as though the taxi driver in question did behave with incredible presence of mind and bravery,” Mr Johnson said.

Mr Perry, a former postman, had picked up the bomber from a property about seven minutes from the hospital by car.

His uncle Michael Sultan said: “He said he was more or less semi-conscious after the blast. His ­instinct was to get out of the car.

“He’s got some injuries to his left ear. He’s got a perforated eardrum and they had to stitch the back of his ear and the lobe of his ear, which came apart.”

The Times