Cabbies to the rescue
DRIVER BATTERED BY FARE-DODGER
BY DAVID CAMPBELL A CABBIE has told how a dozen fellow taxi drivers raced to his aid after he was battered by a fare-dodging thug.
Michael Bolland, 50, was left bloodied and bruised after being attacked in Espedair Street, in the south end of Paisley, on Monday.
The driver was able to hit a panic button in his car after the attack and colleagues flooded the street in their cabs until paramedics arrived to treat him.
Michael, who drives for Renfrewshire Cab Company, was treated for facial injuries by an ambulance crew at the scene.
Minutes earlier, he had picked up three passengers in the Gallowhill area of the town before getting into a dispute about the fare and being attacked.
The dad of two from Paisley said: “A guy got out of the car and slammed the door shut. I thought it was going to go right through the other side.
“I said that someone would need to pay the fare and stepped out the car.
“I turned away and that’s when he hit me. I covered my head, that’s when I felt the blood and he kept laying into me.”
Michael, who has been driving a taxi in town for three years, thanked other drivers for coming to his aid.
He added: “I got back in the car and drove up the street a bit and hit my panic button.
“Before I knew it, there were loads of drivers in the street.
“I didn’t really know any of them but that’s the job – if you’re in trouble, people come to help.
“This is the first time something like this has happened. But it won’t put me off.”
One driver, who arrived on the scene shortly after the incident, told of his anger that a fellow