'It's just the way Mancunians are - giving back': Judge has faith in humanity restored by kindhearted taxi driver
A crown court judge says she had her faith in humanity restored by a kindhearted taxi driver who went out of his way to help her.
Judge Suzanne Goddard QC accidentally left her purse in the taxi when she got out near Piccadilly station, before boarding a train to London for a judicial event.
After arriving in the capital she realised she'd lost her purse, which contained a few hundred pounds.
But the judge, who is based at Manchester Crown Court and last year jailed the UK's most prolific rapist Reynhard Sinaga, was reunited with it after the driver selflessly tracked her down and dropped it off at her home.
He refused to accept any money as a token of her gratitude, and instead the judge said she made a donation to Cancer Research.
"I thought I would be very lucky to see it again, let alone with the contents still inside," Judge Goddard told the M.E.N.
"It rather restored my faith in humanity when my husband informed me the next day that the taxi driver had driven out and put a note through my home address to say he had the purse and to make arrangements to return it."
The taxi driver, who asked not to be named, was able to contact the judge after finding a receipt in her purse which contained her phone number.
He played down his altruistic act and said: "It's just the way Mancunians are, giving back.
"I always think if it happens to me, karma comes back. You want to give back to the world.
"I know it sounds a bit mushy, but black cab drivers get a bad name as it is.
"But we are at the top of the chain when it comes to honour and respect, we're not all rip off merchants!"
He said he had no intention of accepting any reward, but that his good deed made him feel 'amazing' inside.
"They tried giving me a reward, quite a bit of money, I just said 'I don't want the reward'.
"I said don't worry, just keep on using black cabs.
"I'm a local lad, I'll do anything for the trade. I'm just a working class lad, just doing the right thing.
"To be honest, afterwards I felt really good, I felt amazing."
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