Taxi Driver Online

Good effort from the Courier in bringing all this together.

There's a pile of photos and links to individual incidents via the link, but I think most of them are on here, and I can't be bothered putting all the individual links in. So anyone who feels the need should visit the link to the article - it's not paywalled at the moment, but often these thing are paywalled after a few hours


Taxi driver says her Fife knifepoint ordeal is part of tide of violence against cabbies



Kay Rooney is still living with the after-effects of a terrifying attack perpetrated by a woman she believes should have been on remand.

A Fife taxi driver, robbed at knifepoint by a bail-breaching woman who had targeted another cabbie a month earlier, says she should not have been at liberty to attack her.

On May 9, Kay Rooney was subjected to a terrifying robbery at the hands of crack addict Claire Duncan, who had appeared in court accused of a near-identical offence five weeks earlier.

Backseat passenger Duncan lunged at Kay and held a 12″ knife against her neck and demanded cash, declaring: “Give me your money, don’t be a bitch.”

She injured Kay and robbed her of a bumbag containing takings, phone chargers and ID.

Over the last few years, The Courier has reported on taxi drivers from Tayside and Fife being robbed, sexually assaulted and even murdered while at work.

Kay, who is autistic, said even though robbing taxi drivers is not worth criminals’ time any more, every driver has a story and more protection is needed.

Feared for life

Now her assailant has been jailed, Kay has opened up on the lasting impact of Duncan’s attack.

She met to share her story in a cafe and explained she had arrived early to get a seat with her back to the wall to ensure nobody was behind her.

She told how she started at The Taxi Centre in Leven last September and was helping out with Duncan, a late local fare, despite expecting her previous Edinburgh run to be the last of her night.

When backseat passenger Duncan changed the destination from Leven to Thornton – somewhere which would require upfront payment – Kay suspected she would flee without paying.

On arrival, Kay began to register the £28 fare into her system.

“Before I could finish typing it in, she had lunged across so quickly.

“There was a massive breadknife on my throat, she had me held back.

“I instantly thought it was game over, I thought she was going to kill me, she was rattling.

“The first thing I did was grab the knife to pull it off my throat.

“I thumped back but she pulled me and ripped my bumbag from me. She had knocked my glasses off.

“There was blood everywhere.

“I said: ‘You don’t want to do this, I’ve got kids’.

“She didn’t care.”

Kay was left bleeding from a cut hand and had friction burns where the bumbag was hauled off.

When police arrived with dogs they told Kay of Duncan’s earlier attack and she promptly identified her.

Duncan was finally caught while trying to rob a third taxi driver in Fife.

Fife crisis

The Courier has reported a long and growing list of local taxi drivers’ ordeals.

In January, terrified staff at Kelty Taxis were held in their office for 45 minutes by a thug who told them the only way they were leaving was in a body bag.

Michael Stewart assaulted a driver and dispatch operator after being told he would not get a taxi if he continued to spit Buckfast.

He dragged the driver into the back office and held the pair there while issuing chilling death threats.

The next month, career criminal Matthew O’Brien told a driver in Methil he had a knife as he rifled through the cabbie’s coat, fleeing with his wallet, £205 and his keys.

A sheriff labelled the incident an “appalling assault and robbery.”

Other Fife cabbies have been

• pulled from their steering wheel;
• bitten on the face;
• racially abused;
• terrified with firearms.

Earlier this summer, brothers James and Ryan Beattie wound up in court in Dunfermline after one pulled a driver’s handbrake while the taxi was travelling at 30mph.

In 2023, a female driver who took a customer to Leven was subjected to a sexual assault when she arrived.

Wider safety issue

Criminal behaviour has also affected cabbies in Tayside.

One driver had an imitation firearm pressed against his head during a robbery, the high court heard.

Another was left unable to drive after being battered while chasing an unpaid fare, while another was scratched in the eyes after refusing to overfill his car.

Others have also experienced:

• sexual abuse;
• racial abuse;
• car vandalism in Broughty Ferry and Arbroath.

No case has been more high profile than the murder of Dundee driver Mark Ward.

Lifelong criminal Steven Greig was on five bail orders when he attacked Mr Ward as he charged his electric taxi, dying a year later.

In Dundee, the issue has reached the point where drivers are demanding self-defence lessons.

Lasting effect

After two and a half weeks off, Kay returned to work but only driving “safe” contracts and known passengers.

Her employers have been supportive but she still suffers mentally, including regular feelings of a phantom blade against her neck and “terrible, terrible nightmares”.

“I’m suffering from PTSD – there’s no way you can go through that and not.

“I still have flashbacks, I’m still incredibly nervous if I don’t know who I’m picking up.

“Before, I thought the only thing I’m needing to worry about is a runner. Everybody is a potential for me now.

“I can’t sit in a seat where there’s somebody behind me. That’s horrid, that’s a horrid way to live.

“I think will I ever be the same again? I live in constant fear, I still feel the knife on my throat.”

Bail blunder?

Duncan, 31, was sentenced to 40 months in prison, reduced from the maximum available five years by the obligatory one third due to her early guilty plea.

Kay blasted Duncan, who wept throughout her video link court appearance.

She believes her attacker should have been remanded immediately after her first crime.

“They made the wrong call, they let her out. I could have died. She went on to attack somebody else.

“How do they deem her as okay to be released in public?

“The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

“She didn’t care if she was going to get caught. The next time, it could be fatal.”

Measures needed

Kay stressed, with most passengers now paying by card, taxi drivers are not as high value targets for robbers as in years gone by.

“There’s not enough women taxi drivers. There are a lot of women passengers who request a female driver.

“Women feel safe with a woman driver. I have always felt safe with a female passenger – not anymore.”

She says taxi firms “aren’t multi-million pound businesses” and many drivers are self-employed.

While she is not keen on CCTV like in London cabs, Kay believes personal panic alarms would make drivers feel safer and would like to see the local authority provide them.

“I think Fife Council have a responsibility to help taxi firms keep their drivers safe.”

Mary McLean, legal service manager at Fife Council said: “We’re aware of the incidents involving local taxi drivers and spoke directly with two of those affected shortly after the events took place.

“We take driver safety extremely seriously and are committed to working closely with everyone involved in the taxi and private hire trade to improve safety.

“All licensed drivers in Fife complete a Taxi Driver Training Course, which includes guidance on recognising potentially risky situations and how to respond calmly and safely to avoid conflict.”