Taxi driver attacked in Plymouth as he shouts 'call 999' in street

Police at the scene of an incident in Plymouth (file image)
-Credit: (Image: Matt Gilley/PlymouthLive)


A taxi driver in Plymouth has been left in fear of returning to work after he was attacked in the street.

The driver - who has contacted PlymouthLive but wishes to remain anonymous - explained that he had picked up a number of passengers - two men and a woman - from a property in Adelaide Street and was intending to drop them off at another address in Westcountry Close.

However, during the journey he said they asked him to go into a lane between Hotham Place and Molesworth Road, whereupon two of the men in the car got out, ran into a house and then back to his taxi carrying two plants he believed to be marijuana plants.

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He explained: "I (had) asked them to leave my car as I don't want to transport the weed. I asked them to take it out but they refused and threatened me. As I came out of the lane they kept threatening me.

"I turned into Wilton Street and they started punching me from the back seat. I called 999 but the girl sitting in the front seat cancelled my call a few times from my car.

"I finally saw a few people outside an address in Wilton Street and managed to stop the car there and asked them to call police.

"The people in the car then took my car key and the money I had in the car and ran away with the plant towards Victoria Park."

The taxi driver told PlymouthLive since the incident on September 22 he had left the UK to stay with a friend as the assault and robbery had caused him "a lot of anxiety and distress".

He is understood to have been able to provide the police with a photo taken by a resident of the street which captured the moment his attackers fled the car.

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson said: "Police were called at around 6.15pm on Sunday 22 September following a report a taxi was driving though Wilton Street, Plymouth, sounding a horn and shouting call 999.

"Officers attended and the taxi driver reported being assaulted whilst driving after picking up two males and a female.

"The suspects grabbed cash from within the taxi before fleeing the scene. Enquires are ongoing."

Anybody who witnessed the incident or who has information is asked to contact police on 101 or via their website quoting occurrence number 50240240799

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