Taxi Driver Online

Evening Times (Glasgow)

November 6, 2007 Tuesday

Kidnapped, threatened and dumped by road;

Taxi passenger's terrifying ordeal in GBP1 fare row

A TAXI passenger suffered a terrifying ordeal after his driver locked him in the cab and threatened to kill him - because he did not have enough cash for his fare.

The 29-year-old was taken from Glasgow's West End and driven to a road north of the city.

The driver then told him: "If you value your life get out of my taxi."

The panicked passenger jumped out of the newstyle black hackney, leaving a bag with personal items, including a laptop.

He flagged down a motorist, who took him to Kirkintilloch police station.

Today, police said the incident appeared to have been sparked by the man being GBP1 short for a GBP5 fare.

The driver had picked the customer up on Dumbarton Road around 1.30am on Saturday.

The man, an Australian who moved to Glasgow last year, had been working as a chef in the city centre and is thought to have taken the wrong bus home. He found himself at Partick Cross, just over a mile from his flat in Kelvinbridge.

He hailed a taxi to take him home, but the trip cost him more than expected.

A GBP2 surcharge applies after 12.30am at weekends, meaning the meter starts at GBP4. Taxi fares in Glasgow also went up last month so, despite the journey being just over a mile, GBP5 was due.

PC Jacquie Stewart, from Partick police station, said: "The taxi stopped outside his home and he asked the driver to wait while he went into the flat to get more money.

"However, the driver then locked the doors and refused to let him out.

"The driver said he would take the man to the police station. We often get taxi drivers turning up with drunk or abusive passengers who have refused to pay.

"The man does not know the area well, but it appears the driver took him eastbound along the M8, possibly up the M80 to near Stepps, before coming off the motorway and on to what the man described as a 'dark road'.

"The driver then threatened him and told him to leave the taxi." The victim told police he had asked repeatedly to be let out of the taxi, but the driver ignored his requests.

Bill McIntosh, secretary of Glasgow Taxis, the city's main black cab firm, said: "It is allegations at this stage, but if a taxi driver took that course of action we would certainly not condone it."

The motorist who drove the man to Kirkintilloch police station is thought to live in Stepps, Bishopbriggs or Kirkintilloch.

Anyone with information is asked to call CID on 0141 532 3559.
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