Read the debate |  | Manchester at night but how safe are you travelling home? |
Bogus taxi drivers Inside Out conducts a special investigation into the dangers posed by bogus taxi drivers. We reveal how some bogus operators are deliberately preying on young women. Ten years ago 22-year-old Rachel Thacker was brutally murdered in Manchester after getting into a bogus taxi. Today the culture of binge drinking means more women than ever before are dicing with danger when they try to get a lift home. We have learned that sex attacks linked to taxis are happening almost every fortnight in the Greater Manchester area. Inside Out also has evidence which shows private hire vehicles are regularly breaking the law by stopping to pick up passengers for unbooked journeys. Riding home Manchester has a huge number of taxis and private hire vehicles which serve an important role in getting people home safely, especially late at night. On a busy Saturday night there's 100,000 people in the city enjoying themselves. The trouble is there's just over 900 black cabs and 2,000 private hire taxis to take them home, and a limited number of free buses running through the night.
The Council maintains there's enough taxis for everyone. | "There's no doubt in my mind there's men out there posing as taxi drivers - just waiting to prey on vulnerable young women
" | | Det Supt Mick Lay |
But some women are so drunk or desperate to get home after a night out, they are prepared to risk their lives by taking lifts home with strangers rather than waiting for licensed cabs. Detectives call this "night hiking", but by doing it, women are taking enormous risks. There are also many more women who are conned into thinking that bogus cabs are registered taxis. So we sent in an undercover team from Inside Out. Our researchers stood on a corner at Deansgate Locks opposite an official taxi rank. Within minutes a man driving a white car stopped - it was not a taxi. Shortly afterwards another car stopped and offered to take our team home for £15 - once again he was not a taxi. Rachel's story Medical graduate Rachel Thacker was murdered by a bogus taxi driver in 1996. Her battered and burned body was found behind the George and Dragon pub in in Ardwick, Manchester, eight days after she disappeared.
Her body was found a mile away from where she was last seen. Rachel had travelled to Manchester for a friend's 21st birthday party.  | | Rachel Thacker - tragic victim of a bogus taxi driver |
And then Rachel made a mistake that was to cost her life - she mistakenly took a bogus cab home. Mark Lynch had been out drinking with Rachel and friends:
"I remember this car pulling up and Rachel opening the door and jumping in
I feel so guilty
I had my hand on the car door
" The car was driven by Duncan Bermingham, a man with a record of domestic violence. He was out that night posing as a taxi driver. Former police Detective Supt Bob Huntbach, who was in charge of the murder inquiry, says that it was one of the worst murders Manchester Police has ever seen. Rachel could only be identified by her fingerprints.
At the trial it emerged Bermingham had borrowed the car he used from a friend to pose as a taxi driver. Bermingham was found guilty of Rachel's murder - he was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in jail. Susan's story Ten years on, many women still think nothing will happen to them if they get into a bogus cab. But for Susan the danger was all too real. She agreed to tell her story as a warning to others - we have changed her name and protected her identity. Susan is 38-years-old - last year she got into a car that stopped near Canal Street in Manchester. "I went out with some work colleagues; I'd had a good night but had too much to drink and wanted to go home. "I got into what I thought was a taxi and he drive me and a colleague home' 'We dropped the male colleague off first and then dropped me off. He helped me to the door and he said he would close the door for me - I kept saying thank you to him."
The driver took her home and then raped her. "The next thing I remember was waking up and seeing his face in my face - I knew I was being attacked, I just blacked out with fear," she remembers. 'I thought I was going to be killed. The fear of knowing someone else was in my home - I thought he was going to kill me - it was a fear that I just can't describe."
Susan's attacker was caught by the police and sentenced to 11 years in jail. But the experience has left her traumatised. "He took away a lot of things to me - my right of saying yes or no - which ever woman has a right to do, "I still feel like I don't trust anyone - especially taxis. I've got to live with this for the rest of my life. It hurts that all he got was a prison sentence and I got a life sentence. "I was a really confident person beforehand - now every day is a struggle to try and feel comfortable and confident about myself. I always believed it would never happen to me. "My night was just an innocent night out and it turned into a nightmare that will stay with me for the rest of my life."
"I would beg any woman out there to be extra cautious about how they are getting home," she advises. Operation Talon Operation Talon has been set up by Greater Manchester Police to try to prevent sex crimes in the force area.
Part of their role is to deal with the threat from bogus taxi drivers.
 | | Inside Out's researchers were approached by bogus cabs |
Police figures, revealed here for the first time by Inside Out, show that in the last year 22 sex attacks are being linked to taxis and private hire cars across the Greater Manchester area. And these are just the reported crimes - the tip of the iceberg.
The man in charge of the operation is Detective Superintendent Mick Lay who has no illusions about what the police are up against: "There's predators out there looking for vulnerable women."
Bert Jones is a black hackney cab driver who has been campaigning against bogus cabs for the last 15 years. In 1991 he formed a voluntary group who successfully prosecuted over 200 bogus drivers called 'the organisation': "At the time I was very angry personally something could have been done to make the risk less for Rachel, and nothing's been done 10 years on
It made me angry."
Pirate taxis The police and the City Council Licensing Office are responding to the problem of the pirate taxis.
Operation Aviano is targetting the drivers who come into the city.
For the last few months the team has been gathering information about some drivers who've been seen repeatedly coming into the city centre at night.
"Cars cruising the streets looking for customers are illegal, uninsured and
potentially very dangerous." | |
They've established their routes and patterns of movement - they are now Aviano's top targets. Taxi touting is a recordable offence and that could be a crucial breakthrough for the Aviano team. Police know that there are a small number of people who are sexual offenders operating as bogus taxi drivers.
Teams from Aviano go out working as couples on the streets looking for bogus drivers.
They've got uniform officers as back up close by, and while they're waiting, the CCTV cameras are busy watching. The Printworks is one of the hotspot areas for bogus taxis in the city centre, and is a major focus for their operations.
Best Bar None
The city is also trying to reduce the risk posed by bogus drivers by introducing an award scheme called Best Bar None. It's designed to encourage bars and clubs to take a responsible attitude towards the safety of their customers.
 | | Dep Supt Mick Lay warns of predators on the streets |
Nexus runs a night cafe and chill out venue which provides music, food and a cab booking service. Late night revellers can relax safely at the shelter until their taxi arrives.
The huge volume of people in the city has created a situation where many private hire taxis are now breaking the law by picking up people on the streets. We filmed people stopping and bartering with private hire taxis before getting in and driving off. Our researchers were also offered several unbooked lifts home, although it clearly stated on the cars that this should not happen. Future action
We invited Rachel Christie, the head of Manchester City Council's Environmental Services department responsible for taxi licensing, to come and see the results of our investigation. She responded as follows: "We have very high standards for our existing taxi drivers and we're obviously undertaking action at every weekend we're out there undertaking enforcement against these taxi drivers. "Anything we do is also very much with the help of the public so if anybody knows of anything then please let us know
but we will take action.. as you've seen on the video footage that you've already taken..."
"This is why we're taking the enforcement action because we really want to stamp this out. "People should not be doing this and particularly women on their own , or just a couple of women, are really at risk when they're doing this..."
"Clearly what we do is undertake prosecutions against them because they are taking people and they are uninsured so we do take action against them. "And it is disappointing to see that this is still happening so we need to continue to take the enforcement action." TIPS FOR SAFE TAXI JOURNEYS | Do - check that the taxi has a taxi registration plate on its rear bumper. Do - check that the plate matches the vehicle's registration. Do - check for signs identifying which company the taxi comes from. Do - carry the telephone number of a trusted, licensed company. Do - share a taxi with a friend. Sit in the back of the car behind the driver. Do - ask to see the driver’s identity badge if it is not displayed. Do - ask the taxi company the name of the driver when you book - and check this on the taxi's arrival.
Don't - flag down a suspicious car which doesn't look like it has full taxi registration details, even if you're desperate and there's a long queue for registered cabs. |
Keeping safe Read the advice in our safety fact file or find out more in our web link to the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Preventative action is important so always double check the credentials of a taxi and its driver. Better still, always carry the phone details of a reputable company that you can trust. Make sure you save this phone number on your mobile phone. Share a cab with a friend, if you live close by. Don't get talking to the cab driver about overtly personal details.
If you get into a taxi and you feel threatened, trust your instincts and get out of the cab, but make sure you have a good escape plan. Ask the driver to stop in a busy area - if the driver refuses, use a mobile phone to call the police. If things get difficult, alert other drivers and pedestrians by waving or calling out the window. Read the Suzy Lamplugh Trust Advice guide on taxis Help at hand...If you are the victim of a bogus taxi attack and need to talk to someone, call the Victim Support Helpline on 0845 30 30 900. | 
Inside Out - North West: Monday October 30, 2006
