Taxi Driver Online

Funnily enough, picked up a lad from Birkenhead at the weekend, who's in the Army at the Leuchars camp near St Andrews. He was saying that Birkenhead has some, er, issues

I was telling him that I regularly read stuff about taxi drivers on Merseyside in the Liverpool Echo...


Thugs punch and spit on 'terrified' taxi driver before assaulting police

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... i-21657473

"I was just hoping they didn't have any weapons. It was quite scary actually"

Two thugs punched a 'terrified' taxi driver in the side of the head and spat in his face after an early morning ride in Birkenhead.

One of the men then assaulted a police officer and called them a homophobic slur as they were being arrested after the driver followed the men as they escaped on foot.

The taxi driver, who wants to remain anonymous as he is 'frightened of any comebacks', picked up the two men by the Oval Leisure Centre in Bebington in the early hours.

He said the men became violent and aggressive when he stopped on Balls Road, Oxton after a disagreement.

The 55-year-old said the men changed their destination halfway through the journey before questioning why he wasn't taking a route that would have added 10 minutes to the journey.

He told the ECHO : "I said, 'That would've been a bit costly for you', and then they went off on one, calling me all sorts, (saying) 'You don't know what you're doing'.

"So I stopped the car then and I said, 'Listen, I'm not taking you any further if I'm getting abuse off yous'.

"I got out the car and one of them started filming live on Facebook, saying, 'This fat b****** taxi driver won't take us anywhere, who does he think he is?'

"And I dropped my wallet then and the other lad went to pick it up, but I managed to get there first, and when I came back up, he cracked me then and spat in my face."

The man said he has been hit and verbally abused many times in his 20 years driving taxis, but he was never as scared as he was before the incident at 5am on Monday.

He told the ECHO : "I was just hoping they didn't have any weapons. It was quite scary actually."

The taxi driver called the police after the attack and the men ran off. He got in his car and followed them with his lights off, guiding the police to the suspects on Cole Street, Birkenhead.

He said he was left with a headache and a sore ear in the days following the attack.

The man took time off work to recover as his 'stomach was churning' at the thought of going in. Even now, he's wary of picking up passengers, he said.

He said this would probably be his last year as a taxi driver after two decades in the job.

He told the ECHO : "I think it needs to change really, taxi driving."

A Merseyside Police spokesperson told the ECHO : "We have arrested two men following an assault in Birkenhead on Monday 20 September.

"At around 4.55am we received a report that two male passengers had assaulted a taxi driver on Balls Road, Birkenhead.

"It was reported that the men punched and spat at the victim, following a dispute over the route taken, then made off on foot.

"Patrols attended and quickly detained the two males on Cole Street.

"During arrest, one of the men assaulted the arresting officer and directed a homophobic slur towards him.

"One of the males was also found to be in possession of suspected cannabis.

"The two men from Birkenhead, aged 27 and 30, were arrested on suspicion of common assault. The 27-year-old was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, a Section 4A public order offence and possession of a Class B drug.

"Both men were taken into custody and questioned by officers. They have now been released under investigation while enquiries are ongoing."

Detective Inspector Michael Fletcher said: "To assault someone in this manner simply for doing their job is utterly disgraceful and simply will not be tolerated here on Merseyside.

"Fortunately our officers attended and made swift arrests. Our enquiries into the incident remain ongoing and if you were in the Birkenhead area in the early hours of Monday morning and saw anything then please get in touch.

"Let me also say that our officers put their own lives and personal safety on the line every day in order to keep us all safe and they should never, ever have to suffer physical violence or verbal abuse when carrying out their duties.

"I’m sure the overwhelming majority of law-abiding members of the public would agree that assaults on police officers or other emergency workers are totally unacceptable and the arrest shows that this will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

"Regrettably, we have seen an increase in police officers on Merseyside becoming victims of hate crime while on duty.

"This is not acceptable, and to those who think they can direct abuse towards our officers – we will arrest you and make sure you are bought to justice."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police Contact Centre.

You can also call 101 quoting reference 21000653825 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-infor ... nformation.