Taxi Driver Online

If I read this at the time, then certainly forgotten about it, although it happened elsewhere in Fife.

But, as I always say, these other parts of Fife might as well be in Edinburgh, Glasgow or Inverness.

Dundee, on the other hand...

Bizarre tale, though


Scots cabbie forced to rob bank at gunpoint says life has 'never been the same'

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scot ... 1618578503


Image: Tina Norris/Cascade News/Daily Record/Sunday Mail

Alistair Rankin, 52, who was awarded £6100 in criminal injuries, claims the payout didn’t reflect the trauma he still suffers six years after the ordeal.

A cabbie who was forced to rob a bank at gunpoint has hit out at a compensation scheme for crime victims.

Alistair Rankin, 52, who was awarded £6100 in criminal injuries, claims the payout didn’t reflect the trauma he still suffers six years after the ordeal.

The dad said he continues to take medication and goes to therapy to cope.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) originally offered the taxi driver just £1000 before he challenged the decision.

Alistair said: “My life has never been the same. I take a cocktail of 14 pills before I leave the house and sleeping tablets before I go to bed.

“It’s been a nightmare and has put a strain on my family life.

“I’m still in therapy and don’t know when I will be able to put it all behind me. I’m still very angry with what happened.

“The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority offered me £1000 before I appealed it.

“They then came back with an offer of £6100 after five years, which I accepted.

“I’d had enough of fighting it so settled but I don’t think it was enough. I know someone who got £10,000 for being bitten on their shoulder while at work.

“That’s obviously distressing but small compared to what happened to me. The system just seems so unfair.”

Staff at the Bank of Scotland in Kirkcaldy, Fife, were “extremely shaken” by the raid in November 2015.

Alistair, of Cowdenbeath, was hired to pick up Andrew Patrick at an industrial estate in Lochgelly.

Patrick – who faked an Eastern European accent and hid his face using a cap, glasses and scarf ­– ordered Alistair to drive to the bank at gunpoint.

When they arrived, he was given two bags and told one contained a bomb.

He was told to take them into the branch and hand over a note while he was “watched”. The note told bank staff to fill the bag with cash or the bomb would detonate within a minute.

Workers quickly handed Alistair £10,000 but Patrick had fled by the time he returned to his vehicle.

Police took Alistair to a deserted golf course to detonate the bomb before realising it was fake.

The robbery sparked a three-week manhunt involving armed police, air support and dog units before gym instructor Patrick was arrested.

He was sentenced to six years and nine months at the High Court in Glasgow and was released in 2019.

Victims of crime in the UK can make a claim via CICA for what they suffered.

The body has the power to award up to £500,000 but most victims get just a fraction of that. Calculations are based on a tariff system and injuries sustained.

In 2019 former victims’ commissioner Baroness Newlove said CICA was “re-traumatising” claimants and seemed “calculated to frustrate and alienate” those it should be helping.

Seriously disabling mental injuries can lead to payouts of up to £27,000.

Alistair added: “Patrick is out and his life has gone on. He probably never even thinks about it.

“I’ve never seen him again and wouldn’t want to. He’s no real understanding of what he caused.

“Victims of crime are ignored by the system. I thought that at the time of his sentencing and I think it having gone through the compensation scheme.”

A CICA spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with Mr Rankin and we know that no amount of compensation can ever make up for the harm and suffering caused by violent crime.

“Injury awards are intended to be an important gesture of public sympathy and acknowledgement of the trauma that victims have experienced.”

And it gets even more bizarre. This was from 2017. Unfortunately not much detail, and can't find anything else, so not sure if it was job-related.

But today's article certainly gives the impression that he's still working as a driver.


Cabbie kidnapped and forced into bomb threat bank robbery given reprieve for homophobic comments

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scot ... t-10719087


Image: Police Scotland/Daily Record

Alistair Rankine, 47, admitted his guilt in making the slur just days after he was ambushed and abducted in Lochgelly, Fife.

A taxi driver who was kidnapped and forced to take part in bomb threat bank robbery has admitted making homophobic comments days later.

Yesterday, Alistair Rankine, 47, was admonished by Sheriff Craig McSherry for the homophobic outburst, which took place 18 days after the robbery.

He had completed a six-month good behaviour order following his guilty plea in December.

Strange.

Very strange.

_________________
IDFIMH

Couple of other snippets in today's Courier:

There's also this photo, captioned: "A bomb disposal robot is used to check a car at the scene."



Can't see any plate, but it does say 'a' car rather than 'the' car, or taxi, or whatever, so it may have been another car that was maybe suspected of containing a bomb, or whatever

If I had to put money on it I'd guess that was an Asda carrier bag, though

Vaguely remember this happening and know of the driver. But that white car pictured isn't a - or his - taxi.