Cabbie accused of kidnap

6:48am Thursday 22nd May 2008

A TAXI driver took a woman hostage before dumping her miles from her home, a trial has heard.

Hackney cab driver Mahza Khan, aged 38, faces the charges after a dispute over a taxi fare on September 8 last year resulted in a woman being punched after being left near Fiddler's Ferry. He denies robbery and kidnap and is standing trial at Warrington Crown Court.

Deborah Mellor, of Widnes, was on her way home from a night out in Liverpool with her sister, Emma Chadwick, of Penketh, when they went to get the taxi from Central Station.

When the women came to leave the car at Ms Mellor's house in Widnes, Ms Mellor got into a dispute with Khan after he charged £14.50 - a price that was more expensive than the usual the cost of the journey.

Ms Chadwick recalled at Warrington Crown Court on the first day of the trial on Tuesday how she saw the car reverse and drive off with her sister as hostage just after she left the taxi.

From page one She said: "First it reversed back around the corner then around towards the roundabout. I could hear my sister shouting my name, Emma, Emma'."

Kahn, of Nelson, Lancashire, was then said to stop several minutes later close to the unlit Fiddler's Ferry Power Station, which leads on to some fields.

Prosecutor Rhys Rowlands said: "He went to the back (of the car) and dragged Deborah by her hair and threw her to the ground and then followed a short struggle, when he punched her. She gave up and handed her handbag over.

"He took out all of the notes then he got back in his taxi and drove off, leaving her in the middle of nowhere.

"Her former partner came to her assistance and called the police."

He said: "He was guilty firstly of kidnap, leaving her by the power station and then robbing her and then using force against her."

But Ian Metcalf, defending Kahn, said: "He said that he asked for the correct fare. He said that as he drove off she attacked him, not the other way around. He said that having done so she then handed over £15 and he gave her 50p change. He says there is no question of him using force to steal from her."

In cross-examination, Mr Metcalf questioned whether the two sisters had been drinking more than they had stated. He asked Ms Chadwick where she was sitting in the taxi and then showed CCTV evidence to show that she was mistaken - she had actually sat on the opposite side of the cab to where she had claimed.

The victim, who suffered from headaches and scratches following the incident, said that she was shocked and too shaken to give a statement following the alleged incident that took place after 11pm.

Judge Nicholas Woodward said that he expected that the summing up of the case would be finished on Wednesday, with the jury deciding its verdict on Thursday.

The case continues.