Passengers jailed after pouring petrol into taxi and setting it alight with driver inside

This CCTV footage shows the shocking moment two men poured petrol into a taxi and set it alight with the driver inside.

Warren Hearne, 36, and Danny Frost, 27, were each jailed for more than five years after they burned the taxi at a petrol station in Hythe last December.

The pair asked their driver to drop them at the petrol station to buy beer on Friday, December 15, 2017, after collecting them from Romney Marsh after a night out.

The driver pulled into the garage on Seabrook Road at about 11pm but neither man went inside the shop.

Instead, Hearne, opened the back door of the taxi, got out and went towards the petrol pump. He took the pump and pointed it into the back seat of the car, dousing it with petrol.

The driver got out of the car when he realised what was happening. Moments later the car was set alight and Hearne and Frost fled the scene, leaving the vehicle ablaze.

The driver grabbed his belongings and ran to safety. Firefighters from Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called to the scene and the orecourt and road was closed while the fire was put out.

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Hearne, from Dymchurch Road in Hythe, and Frost, from Hever Gardens in Ashford, were identified from CCTV footage and arrested soon after the incident.

They both pleaded guilty to arson that was reckless and were sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court last Friday.

Herne received six years and four months in prison. Frost was sentenced to five years and seven months.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Kay Brown said: “This was an extremely dangerous thing to do, which could have caused significant harm to anyone nearby at the time.

“Luckily, the driver escaped the incident without injury but his vehicle, which is his livelihood, was destroyed in the fire.

“There is no excuse for what they did and thankfully they will serve time in prison for this unprovoked and reckless attack on an innocent man.

“I hope this sentence will give them time to consider the consequences of their actions and make better choices in the future.”