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Woman hurls abuse at taxi driver outside Tunbridge Wells train station

A taxi driver has been subjected to a foul-mouthed rant by a woman outside a train station.

Sumair Idrees, 41, remained calm during the onslaught of verbal abuse he received, by Tunbridge Wells station, at around 12.20am.

Mr Idrees who filmed the incident says the woman - who says she is “gattered”- became increasingly aggressive after he told her that his taxi meter would start at £6.80.

“Basically, there was a group of five or six of them, and my friend told me they would need a six-seater taxi,” said Mr Idrees, of Tunbridge Wells.

“I got out of my car and they said ‘We are going to High Brooms’ so I asked ‘Do you have money on you?' She said ‘No.'

“Then she asked ‘How much is it going to cost’ and I told her it was going to be on the meter. It starts at £6.80 after 11.30pm.

“She said ‘No, no. We won’t pay that’ and started swearing. She swore two or three times initially and somebody else in her group was swearing as well.

It happened on Sunday by Tunbridge Wells train station
It happened on Sunday by Tunbridge Wells train station

“I said to her ‘Please, don’t swear. Otherwise, I won’t take you.' She said she didn’t have any money and I told her, in that case, I couldn’t take her.

“As I told her I couldn’t take her, she started being really abusive. Instead of stopping her, the boys she was with jumped in front of my car, and they were telling me to go inside the car.

“I said ‘Why can’t we just stop her?’ They seemed so keen to stop me, but not to stop her for some reason.

“She saw two boys had jumped in front of me and she got more aggressive after that because she knew nobody was trying to stop her.

“At that point, I took my mobile phone out quickly and, while she was being so aggressive, I started filming her.

Sumair Idrees, of Tunbridge Wells, was subjected to a foul-mouthed rant by a woman on Sunday morning. Picture: Sumair Idrees
Sumair Idrees, of Tunbridge Wells, was subjected to a foul-mouthed rant by a woman on Sunday morning. Picture: Sumair Idrees

“She wanted to be aggressive, I think, because she knew she was in a group with boys and girls.”

Mr Idrees, who says he has never come across a woman being that aggressive to him before, said he attempted to call the police regarding the abuse he was getting, but he says his call was transferred to the British Transport Police.

He says he spoke to the British Transport Police between 2am and 2.30am on Sunday morning, and they informed him it was a matter for the police.

A police spokesman said: "Kent Police was called at 12.20am on Sunday, May 2 to a disturbance outside Tunbridge Wells train station.

"It is alleged a taxi driver was subjected to threatening behaviour and pushed, during an incident involving a number of people. The victim did not sustain any injuries.

"An investigation is ongoing, including reviewing possible CCTV evidence."

Mr Idrees has been a self-employed taxi driver for around 15 years, having previously also worked as a CCTV operator at M&S until 2019.

Anyone with information is asked to call Kent Police on 01622 604100, quoting reference 46/74068/21.

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