WHEN the driver locked the doors and told her he was getting in the back of the car, Hayley Louise* was terrified.
The ride from Halifax to Todmorden had begun like any other cab ride.
It was routine and uneventful; the kind of trip thousands of women take every night across Britain.
“Everything was OK, I was on the phone to my friend. The driver seemed okay,” she wrote in a Facebook post earlier this year.
But as they drove into the fog of Mount Tabor, on the borders of the moors, the atmosphere changed and the driver started to act strangely.
“Very fidgety and agitated,” Hayley claims.
Then the car jerked violently as he pulled to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes. Confused and frightened, Hayley asked what was wrong.
She alleges the driver told her he needed to “get something from the back of the car”, even though, as she knew, there was nothing in the back except her and her bag.
She claims he then tried to climb into the rear seat with her and locked the car doors so she couldn’t open them from the inside.
That was the moment she knew she had to escape.
Luckily, she says, her window was open.
“I had to hang my arm out the window and open the door, I then ran back up the hill into the middle of nowhere.
“He was following me, begging me to come back and said that he won’t hurt me, that he’s a nice man.”
Alone in a remote spot and terrified Hayley says she was saved when a passing motorist pulled over.
According to her, the cab driver stopped following her the moment the male driver intervened and took her to safety.
“If he didn’t stop and get me in his car, I’ve no clue what he would’ve done to me, a young girl on her own.”
Hayley urged women to be vigilant and warned passengers to think twice before travelling alone.
At the time of print, she had not replied to our requests for further comment, so we have altered her name.
Her reported experience is especially chilling as we prepare to bring in the New Year, when thousands of women around Britain are relying on taxis, minicabs and ride-hail services like Uber to get them home safely, often after drinking, often alone, and often trusting that the person behind the wheel is who they claim to be.
Most drivers are legitimate, vetted and trustworthy.
But rogue operators continue to slip through the cracks, and the consequences can be devastating.
Female-only cabs
Amberine Nawaz knows this better than most.
She campaigns for women’s safety and runs Pink Ladies, a female-only cab firm in Skipton, North Yorkshire, set up specifically to provide a safe, reliable service for women and children.
Today the company has 12 licensed drivers, with four more awaiting approval, and demand is so huge she says she can barely keep up.
She launched the service after her own moment of panic.
“I was working in the South and my daughter, who was eight at the time, was in Skipton and was in a taxi.
“I was talking to her on the phone but then the signal was lost because they were in a rural area.
“It was less than five minutes, but for me, it felt like 24 hours.
“I tried to call her back; I tried to call the driver. In that short time the fear was unbearable.
“You fear the worst and panic. I was so relieved when the signal came back. That made me realise how vulnerable you are when you get in a cab or a taxi.
“We teach our children not to speak to strangers or get into cars with strangers but essentially that is what we do when we get into a taxi.
“We are essentially getting into a car with a stranger that we know nothing about. And sometimes they’re not even taxi drivers, they are rogue drivers.”
All Pink Ladies taxis are marked with bright pink branding, and the drivers wear pink uniforms, making them easily recognisable to women looking for a trusted ride home.
Amberine says female passengers tell her regularly that they feel safer simply because her service exists.
While her own daughter’s safety scare turned out to be a false alarm, other women have suffered far worse.
Terrifying rape
Last year, content creator Aria Selene, then 20, told The Sun how she had been held captive, raped and beaten by a fake taxi driver after a night out in Leicester in March 2023.
She bravely waived her right to anonymity to warn other women about the horrifying ordeal she endured.
Then still in her late teens, Aria had been out with friends and was, in her words, “a little tipsy” when she was approached by a man posing as a taxi driver at around 3am.
He was following me, begging me to come back and said that he won’t hurt me, that he’s a nice man
Hayley Louise*
She said: “I’d always avoided taxis after reading horror news stories about them. But I felt woozy, and my vision was blurry.
“The next thing I remember was being inside the back of a taxi.”
She soon realised the man wasn’t taking her home, instead he was circling the city centre.
“I asked him if I could please get out, but he ignored me. I started to panic,” she added.
Petrified, she tried the door. It was locked. She says the driver kept her trapped for hours before stopping in a dark alleyway.
“I found myself being pulled into the front passenger seat,” she continued. “I was screaming at him to get off, and he shouted for me to shut the hell up and pinned me down.
“I was hysterical, kicking and trying to fight back.
“But he began punching me in the face, hard. I lost consciousness again.
“When I came to, he’d ripped off all my clothes and was on top of me, raping me.
“After, he got off me and went back to his seat.
“I was hysterical, promising him I wouldn’t tell anyone and to let me go home. I worried he was going to kill me.
“Going crazy in the seat, I began kicking and shaking the door as hard as I could.”
She finally forced the door open, stumbled out naked and ran for her life.
Thankfully, she encountered a group of police officers who immediately moved to protect her.
Her phone and clothing left inside the vehicle were later found by police at the attacker’s home.
CCTV footage showed the man pretending to be a licensed taxi driver and picking her up from the city centre.
I found myself being pulled into the front passenger seat. I was screaming at him to get off, and he shouted for me to shut the hell up and pinned me down
Aria Selene
At Leicester Crown Court on 15 March 2024, 38-year-old Zaheer Shah was convicted of rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The judge said the attack involved ‘strategic planning’ and ‘degrading violence’.
He was jailed for 15 years, with an additional 18-month concurrent sentence for assault.
Aria urged women to always share their location with friends.
Shockingly, her experience is far from isolated.
Maura Higgins’ scare
Maura Higgins has also recalled the horrifying moment she was assaulted in a taxi after a night out.
The former Love Island star, 35, revealed it took place during an evening out with pals before she shot to fame in 2019.
Maura said: “I genuinely blame myself. It’s terrible.
“We got in a taxi coming home from a night out. My friends got in the back, I got in the front because there was no more seats in the back. I won’t do that again.
“And my friends got dropped off before me. I fell asleep in the front seat.
“I had a short dress on and I woke up and his hand was up my skirt. I never sobered up so quick in all my life. I literally thought, ‘OK this is it’.”
Maura admitted she was too terrified to speak out during the attack and didn’t report the man for the same reason.
Speaking on the We Need To Talk podcast, she said: “I never reported him. And the reason I didn’t is because I thought, ‘this man knows where I live and I live here alone. And I’m not living in fear’.
Illegal taxi scams
Police forces across the country issue regular warnings about rogue taxis.
Last year the Metropolitan Police told the public to remain vigilant, advising people to book licensed cabs and use reputable apps.
And Wiltshire Police and British Transport Police investigated reports of rogue drivers approaching women outside Trowbridge Railway Station.
Local women on social media described how three different men tried to pick up female passengers in just ten minutes, lying that trains had been cancelled to coax them into their cars.
I was hysterical, promising him I wouldn’t tell anyone and to let me go home. I worried he was going to kill me
Aria Selene
“We said the train is in ten minutes, we’re okay thank you, but they were persistent about us getting in the taxi,” one woman wrote.
In November this year West Midlands Police targeted illegal taxi services in Birmingham city centre. Several drivers were stopped and reported for prosecution.
Officers urged the public to contact police if they suspected any taxi service was operating unlawfully.
Taxi death
One of the worst cases on record is that of 20-year-old Stephanie Hammill, who died on 29 November 2003 after entering what she and her fiancé believed was a taxi following a night out in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
Stephanie got into the back of the dark saloon car first, but before her fiancé James Garland could join her, the driver sped off with her leg still hanging from the open door.
Moments later, Stephanie was found fatally injured in the road.
Investigators believe she either jumped or fell while trying to escape because she feared she was being abducted and would be sexually assaulted.
Electrical engineer Ioannis Revenikiotis, living in Dewsbury at the time, fled the UK after the incident.
He was eventually extradited from Greece and convicted in October 2007 of kidnapping and manslaughter.
He was jailed for 11 years.
Police also found that Stephanie had been struck by a cab driven by Mohammed Ashiq, who was later convicted of failing to stop or report an accident and driving with defective tyres.
His Hackney carriage licence was revoked and attempts to regain it failed.
Urgent warning
Ciara Bergman, CEO at Rape Crisis England & Wales, told The Sun: “It’s absolutely appalling to hear about women being raped and sexually assaulted by men posing as taxi drivers or anyone else in a position of trust or service.”
And Amberine says women must think about safety before the night even starts.
“Plan your journey before you go out,” she advised.
“We spend so much time planning the night, what we’re going to wear, where we’re going, but we rarely think about how we’ll get home.
“Book a taxi in advance, especially at this time of year when it’s busy.
“When you get in, check the driver’s ID if possible and importantly, share a ride with a friend. Don’t travel alone if you can help it.”
Finally, she warns: “If something doesn’t feel right, then don’t get in. And if you don’t feel safe, you can get out of the car and say you don’t want to continue with the journey.”
With party season in full swing the message from survivors, police and safety campaigners is the same.
Only use reputable and licenced cabs and taxis, check who’s driving, and never let your guard down.
Because while there are many legitimate cabbie working hard to get passengers home safely, there are also rogue operators willing to exploit a moment of vulnerability.
And one wrong ride can change everything.
*Name has been changed.
