Women warned about bogus taxis after sinister incident at weekend

Women have been warned about getting into bogus taxis after an incident in Dublin at the weekend. Eagle-eyed gardai arrested a fake 'cab' driver (pictured) and found he was carrying an unsuspecting female passenger in the back.

The driver was pulled over by members of the Dublin Garda Traffic Corps on Friday night after they became suspicious of the car, a silver Skoda Octavia, which had a fake roof sign and 'Dublin Taxi' door stickers.

The authorities then discovered that the vehicle had no tax or valid NCT and that the driver had also been banned from driving by the courts.

He was driving without any licence or insurance and displaying a taxi sign without having a valid public service vehicle licence.

The meter was running with a paying female passenger in the 'cab'.

She was totally unaware that the taxi and its driver was bogus. The driver was immediately arrested at the scene and charged.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said the incident was a stark warning to women to be careful about taxis they hailed on the streets.

CEO Ellen O'Malley Dunlop said: "If you have to travel alone in a taxi you need to take the taxi man's number and name and in the earshot of the taxi driver you should ring home or to someone at your final destination that you're in a taxi and you'll be home in 20 minutes or wherever. You should tell them the name of the driver and taxi number. "This bogus taxi man may not have been out to attack the girl, he may have simply been out trying to make money.

"We don't know at this stage but you have to take the proper precautions to make sure you are being carried home by a legitimate driver," she said.

Anyone unsure if a taxi driver is registered can quickly check by using the 'Taxi Driver Check' app from the National Transport Authority.

Users can search by car registration number and the taxi licence number.