News / Crime
Bogus taxi driver jailed for 12 months
A man who falsely imprisoned two women after posing as a Bristol taxi driver has been jailed.
Anthony Steven Cox, 53, of Salisbury Street, Bristol admitted picking the women up at a taxi rank on Corn Street around 5am on May 8.
The women, both aged in their early 20s, got into Cox’s silver Ford Focus after he agreed to take them home for a fixed price.
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When one of the women asked how much she owed for her part of the journey he told them he wasn’t a taxi.
The pair then repeatedly asked to leave the car and even opened one of the doors as Cox drove around a roundabout, only for him to ignore their requests.
He eventually slowed to a stop, allowing the women to jump out.
One of Cox’s victims then took a photo of his car on her phone before calling the police.
Traffic cameras tracked caught Cox’s car to Old Market where he was arrested.
Investigating officer Dai Nicholas said: “This was a very frightening and distressing experience for these two young women who thought they were getting into a registered taxi.
“They deserve immense credit both for their bravery in attending court and for their quick-thinking in taking a photo of Cox’s car which led to him being apprehended shortly afterwards.”
Cox pleaded guilty to two counts of false imprisonment at Bristol Crown Court where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison and made the subject of a five-year restraining order which prohibits him from parking in a taxi rank and from being in a vehicle alone with any unknown women.
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