...
IN THE
NEWS...IN THE YOU’RE NICKED!
BIRMINGHAM DRIVER TAKES LAW INTO OWN HANDS
These dramatic pic- tures
show the
moment a taxi driver took the law into his own hands when a customer attempted to get out of paying a £25 fare to Dudley. Driver Phillip Williams made the citizen’s arrest in the town cen- tre High Street after his passenger tried to escape the fare follow- ing the 15-mile journey from Erdington. The argument lasted about ten minutes and was filmed by one passer- by who was part of a crowd of about 50 people watching the drama unfold. Mr Williams, aged 58, can be seen gripping onto the 19-year-old woman as she strug- gles with him, kicking his door and grabbing
his face. The driver can be heard on the footage saying “Show me identification and I’ll let you go. All I am asking for is a name and address and I will let you go.” The crowd of onlook- ers eventually per- suaded the self- employed driver to release the woman without paying. She was, however, later identified, made to pay the fare and also banned from using the taxi firm Star Cars and Coaches based in Erdington, by its bosses. Footage of the inci- dent, which happened at about 2pm on July 4, has gone viral on internet social network Facebook and You-
Mr Williams making the citizen’s arrest
Tube (
http://youtu.be/ 5ux18FP0SeA). Mr Williams has received more than 2,000 messages of support in favour of his actions. The father of four from Aston, Birmingham, told the Express and
Star: “I grabbed her because she tried to run off. I asked her to give me her name and address but she start- ed screaming blue murder and next thing there were about 50 people videoing me and taking photos. “I was restraining her and asked if someone could call the police and help me out but no one did. “One man was insist- ing I had to let her go and threatened to call the police on me for assault. I thought I was doing the right thing just by restrain- ing her.” He added: “£25 is a big fare. I can’t let peo- ple run off without paying. You could not go into Asda and spend £25 on food and
“The footage is con- cerning when you see it because you don’t know the full circum- stances of what’s occurred. “When you under- stand
the circumstances
full you
Star Cars driver Phillip Williams
not pay. It is not
acceptable. It comes straight out my pocket. “I did not do anything wrong. I lost two hours that day and missed another fare.” Martin Walker, opera- tions manager of Star Cars & Coaches, said:
realise the pressure the driver was under at the time. “In that situation he was surrounded by members of the public filming him and it was an exasperating posi- tion to be in. It is not a nice video to watch.” Mr Williams decided not to press charges after he received his fare. A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “The taxi fare was paid and there was no prosecution against the girl.”
PAGE 44
PHTM AUGUST 2013
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