UNSUNG HEROES CHESTERFIELD TAXI FIRM HELPED
TWO SPIKING VICTIMS ON ONE NIGHT
A Chesterfield taxi firm took care of two women thought to have been spiked on the same night - guarding them in their office until loved ones were located. The Derbyshire Times reports that A-Line Taxis manager Maria Burgess told how in both cases unknown men entered the office claiming to know the women and asked them to get into waiting cars. However the taxi firm’s doormen - who had already established the women’s identities - turned the men away when they were unable to provide key information.
Manager Maria Burgess told how in the worst of the two cases a young woman appeared in the office at about 4am on October 24 and sat down. Nearly two
hours later the taxi firm were able to drive her back to her father’s home when they answered her mobile and spoke to a friend who’d been looking for her.
Maria said: “She didn’t know where she was or where she was going - there was no communication. “I’ve spoken to her since and she has no recollection of what happened - she remembers nothing after 10.30pm. “I’ve worked in the industry for 20 years and I know the difference between drink and drugs - no drinks could have done this to her. I’m 100 per cent sure she had been spiked.” Worryingly, Maria described how at one point a man entered the office claiming he knew the incapacitated young woman and asked her to get
LINCOLN CABBIE TAKES FIVE DRINK SPIKING VICTIMS TO A&E IN A WEEK
A Lincoln PHV driver says she had to take five young women to hospital in just a week. LincolnshireLive reports that Carol Houchin, 45, has been a taxi driver for Direct Cars for 20 years and said she was asked to take two girls to A&E after police said they’d been spiked. Street pastors in Lincoln also asked her to take three other girls to A&E. Ms Houchin said these instances occurred over a wekend during freshers week. She said: “I spoke to one of the friends with a girl who got spiked. She said it was their first night out basically. It’s not very nice to witness at all, those girls were very vulnerable.” She added: “The friend drank the same amount as her friend and she was absolutely fine. She said her friend had left her drink to turn round and speak to someone whilst the bar.” Ms Houchin said once she got the girls to A and E, she went to reception to explain the situation. She said: “The girls were in no fit state to say anything. I got her checked in, I can’t just dump her in the middle of A&E and say right, off you go. I have to go the extra mile to help girls.”
28
into his car. However, when he was unable to give doormen the girl’s full name he “toddled off”.
Speaking about the other young women’s appearance Maria said: “They present as a lot more relaxed. Like there’s nothing really in them - no get-up-and-go. “I have no doubt that this woman would have followed the gentleman into his car if we had not stopped her.” Maria, who is convinced both women were victims of spiking, said: “Just this last couple of weeks this sort of thing seems to have increased quite a lot.” Speaking about helping victims, she said: “This job is a lot more than just answering the phone and we get a lot of satisfaction ensuring jobs are dealt with safely.”
BELFAST CABBIE SAVED WOMAN, 69, WHO FELL INTO 7 FOOT DITCH
A Belfast taxi driver has been branded a hero after his “brave actions” rescued a 69-year-old woman who fell down into a 7ft ditch while on a journey to the Giant’s Causeway. Keith Graham was transporting Barbara Jaye, her husband Alan and friend Howard, to visit Northern Ireland’s north coast when Barbara got into difficulty after stopping to be sick. Alan told Belfast Live that: “As she stepped out of the cab onto a grassy embankment, she lost her footing and fell headfirst into a bramble filled ditch, narrowly missing an old fence post. If she’d had fallen on that, the outcome could have been very different.” He explained: “She was rescued by the plucky actions of Mr Graham who braved the awful conditions, climbed into the ditch and physically pulled Barbara from danger. She was wedged upside down and caught up in the brambles. I could only get about halfway down the ditch but Keith, jumped down and managed to turn Barbara so I could grab one arm. “By this time she had passed out so with me pulling and Keith pushing, we managed to get her halfway up the side of the ditch and then Howard was able to grab her other arm and we manhandled her back onto the verge. “We could not have managed this without Keith. He deserves a bravery award,” Alan said.
DECEMBER 2021
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90
