Council officials have begun a probe after a teenager claimed she was “grabbed and launched” from a car by a Dundee taxi driver.
The 18-year-old woman from Brechin, who has asked not to be named, filmed the moment she claims she was pulled from the cab onto the pavement by the male driver.
The teen was left sobbing in the wake of the incident in the early hours of Saturday August 3.
Police say no crime has been committed but the council – which licences taxi drivers – is looking into the allegations.
The woman had been at Aura nightclub before getting into a taxi at around 4am.
The driver asked her to pay £80 in advance to take her to Brechin.
Video shows moment teenager ‘grabbed out of taxi’ by Dundee driver
After the pair failed to agree on how the money would be paid, the driver asked the woman to leave.
A video filmed by the woman shows the driver opening the passenger door on Crichton Street.
At that moment, the teenager is heard saying: “You’re f****** starting on me,” as the driver tells her: “Get out.”
The woman says: “You’re starting on me for no f****** reason,” while the driver repeatedly tells her: “Out the car.”
Woman ‘terrified’ by taxi incident
After a couple of seconds, the driver appears to lean towards the woman with both his arms, with the teenager then falling to the pavement a few feet away from the car.
Still filming, the tearful teenager can then be heard saying: “What the f***?” as the driver walks back around the other side of his vehicle.
The woman told The Courier: “I was absolutely terrified.
“Imagine I’d hit my head, anything could have happened.”
Describing what she claims happened, she said: “I was having a night out in Dundee with my cousin.
“I got in the taxi and when I said I couldn’t pay £80 upfront, and that I was getting it from my house, he (the driver) just started shouting at me.
“He then got out of the car.
“He grabbed me by the scruff of my t-shirt and then launched me out of the car.”
The woman and her mum reported the matter to police.
However, the force sent an email later that day, which said: “From viewing this incident, the officers who attended your address have noted that no assault has occurred from the video that they witnessed and no further police action would be taken in relation to the report.
“The officers noted that suitable advice was given and the report has been closed.”
The woman says she waited at the train station before eventually getting home at 10.30am.
The driver involved – who also does not want to be named – says he was happy to take the woman to Brechin, as long as she paid £80 upfront.
Taxi driver claims teenager ‘offered pinky promise for £80 fare’
He told The Courier: “She got in the car and we started driving and I said, ‘Now unfortunately it’s £80 upfront.’
“She went, ‘Oh, erm, well…’
“When we got to Crichton Street she started saying, ‘If you give me your details, I’ll send the money to you in a couple of days’.
“I explained it doesn’t work like that, the money has to come up front.
“She went, ‘I promise I’ll send you it, pinky promise’. I explained pinky promises do not to wear with me, I’m 63 years old.”
The driver says he then let the woman charge her phone in his car so she could try to sort out payment.
He continued: “Then she said, ‘Right, let’s go’.
“I explained again she had to pay the money upfront.
“She started getting abusive, saying I had to take her, it’s your duty to take me, you’re a taxi driver, it’s your effing job, swearing.
“I told her I didn’t have to take anyone anywhere so that’s not going to happen.”
The driver claims he had asked the teenager to leave the car “five or six times” by that point.
He added: “I went around the car and the video shows me opening the door, telling her to get out.
“She wouldn’t have had that video if I wasn’t good enough to let her charge her phone, so it hardly shows I’m some bad taxi driver.
Driver says he has ‘exemplary 26-year record’ in Dundee taxis
“At that point, the whole thing had been going on for about 25 minutes.
“There was no force involved, I gestured with my hands to get her out the vehicle.
“She was intoxicated.
“I had my back to her once she was out of the car – I didn’t see her fall.
“As far as I’m concerned, there is not even anything to answer here.
“I did what my licence allows me to do, put somebody out of my car.
Council probing woman’s claims over taxi driver altercation
“I’ve got an exemplary record with 26 years of service – that’s the 15th person I’ve had to ask to leave my taxi in that time.
“If the police aren’t wanting anything to do with this I don’t understand why this is gathering momentum.
“My licence says I don’t have to tolerate abusive behaviour and I’m entitled to refuse service.
“I know the council has to carry out an investigation with every complaint.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “We have received a complaint, and this is currently being investigated.”
Police Scotland declined to comment further.
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