Man forced taxi driver to rob bank at gunpoint
A GYM instructor terrorised a taxi driver by forcing him to rob a bank.
Andrew Patrick held a gun to Alistair Rankin before giving him a bag, which he said had a bomb inside.
Patrick – who pretended to be Polish – ordered the cabbie to steal money from a Bank of Scotland branch in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
Mr Rankin handed over a note to staff which claimed they had only four minutes to fill the bag – and that bombs would go off if police were called.
The letter also claimed the driver had a device strapped to him. However, when Mr Rankin left the bank with almost £10,000, Patrick was gone.
A team of armed police and an army bomb unit arrived at the bank, which was evacuated.
The explosives were later found to be fake, each consisting of little more than tubes, cotton wool and a mobile phone circuit board.
Patrick, who was caught following a high-profile media appeal, yesterday pleaded guilty to a charge of assault and robbery at the High Court in Glasgow. He will be sentenced next month.
The 40-year- old, a first-time offender, had been working as an instructor at the Fitness Factor gym in Kirkcaldy.
He was earning up to £300 a week but prosecutor Allan Nicol said it appeared he had been having ‘ s o me financial difficulties’.
Taxi driver Mr Rankin was working around 1pm on November 11 last year when he was called to an industrial estate in Lochgelly, Fife.
Patrick had made the call to the taxi office using a fake Polish accent. When Mr Rankin arrived, Patrick got in clutching two holdalls and wearing a cap, sunglasses and scarf over his chin.
Still pretending to be foreign, Patrick gave directions, but they ended up at a dead end in Kirkcaldy. He then pulled out a black handgun and said: ‘You’ll be safe if you do what I say.’
He handed a note to Mr Rankin and told him to give it to staff at
‘A terrifying experience’
the Bank of Scotland branch in the town’s Carberry Road.
A shaken Mr Rankin got out of his car, taking one of the holdalls with him, and walked into the bank, telling a staff member he had been ordered to hand over the typed note.
The note stated there was a bomb in the bag and another strapped to Mr Rankin, which would go off if police were called. The note also said staff should not ‘panic’ and that once money was received, the bombs would be deactivated.
The taxi driver eventually left the bank with £9,730 in cash but found Patrick had vanished. He was instead at a nearby store, which he often used to buy water for his gym.
Yesterday Mr Rankin was at his home in Cowdenbeath with his family. Speaking on his doorstep he said: ‘It’s too raw to speak about at the moment.’
Last night, Detective Inspector Stewart Andrew of Kirkcaldy CID said: ‘This was a terrifying experience for the taxi driver who was forced to participate in a robbery. He must be commended for his bravery throughout, especially given the threat of an alleged explosive device.’
Lord Bannatyne remanded Patrick, also of Lochgelly, in custody and deferred sentencing to May 20 for reports.