Cabbies 'always feel vulnerable’ after taxi driver threatened with metal polehttps://www.nottinghampost.com/news/not ... er-5593784A 41-year-old was intimidated by a group of menTaxi drivers warn that they are ‘always very vulnerable’, after a driver was threatened with metal pole in an attempted robbery.
A 41-year-old man was intimidated by a group of men with a metal pole on Bracebridge Drive, Bilborough in the early hours of June 29, after he refused to let them into his taxi.
The group demanded money from the driver after he suggested that they should call for a bigger taxi to take them to Long Eaton.
Fearing for his safety the man drove off just before the group threw the metal pole, which missed his vehicle.
Azeem Hanuf, chairman of Nottingham United Private Hire Drivers, said: “Unfortunately, we are always very vulnerable as taxi and mini cab drivers.
“I’m sure it’s been a very traumatic experience for the driver.
“It could have been worse; it could have been a knife or something so my heart goes out to him.”
A survey conducted by Nottingham United Private Hire Driver found that 80 per cent of drivers had suffered abuse or threats of some kind.
The 49-year-old from Basford added: “This is the sad reality of the trade that we’re in.
“We need to not only educate the public but also get the police and licensing authorities and operators to take it seriously.
“We’re so highly regulated but we get no safeguards, we’re left to fend for ourselves and that has to change.”
The chairman said that some drivers are forced to avoid working at night or give up completely after being threatened.
“A lot of drivers aren’t able to handle incidents like this one, many do just give up in the end on night work and only work in the day.
“Some even end up hanging up their gloves completely.
“I’ve been threatened both verbally and physically and when you call the police, they just want to take your details – and dealing with the person who is attacking you and talking to them at the same time is almost impossible.”
Police are treating the incident as an attempted robbery and are urging witnesses to come forward.
Police Constable Scott Rossington who is leading the investigation, said:
“This was a frightening ordeal for the taxi driver and we are doing everything we can to catch those responsible.
“Officers are reviewing CCTV in a bid to identify any individuals involved.
“Anyone with information which may help the investigation is asked to contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident 26 of 29 June.”
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