Girls to face court after taxi hold-up

Category: Armed Robbery/Weapons

A 12-year-old girl has been charged with holding up a Cairns cabbie with a knife, in an armed robbery that has prompted calls for security screens to be fitted in taxis.

On Monday night, a 25-year-old Indian driver was robbed at knifepoint by two girls with a kitchen and pocket knife at Westcourt about 7.40pm.

The girls, who were accompanied by a third female, took the driver's earnings for the night before running off.

About 2pm yesterday, police arrested and charged three girls, aged 12, 15, 16, at Cairns Central using footage from the taxi's security camera.

The girls have been charged with armed robbery and will face court today.

The driver has held his taxi licence since July 2008 and will be back on the road this week.

Black and White Taxis yesterday confirmed screening similar to that used in Sydney was being considered in all of the company's 137 cabs after a string of attacks on its drivers.

"If we have to isolate drivers from passengers through screening it would be unfortunate but it might have to be done," Black and White Taxis fleet services manager Chris Simmons said.

It is up to the cab owners to install the screens but many operators are turned off by fitting costs and the impersonal nature they create.

Black and White cannot enforce mandatory screening but its representatives will encourage the move if attacks against drivers continue.

Cab Drivers Association of Queensland secretary Lee Sims said drivers should be subsidised for the costs of screens by their company or the State Government.

Monday's robbery was the third reported assault on a Black and White taxi driver this year.

The company has also received five fare evasions complaints and one vandalism complaint.

Industry experts say a lot of assault cases don’t get reported.

Last month, a taxi owner called for security screens to be made compulsory in all cabs after one of his drivers was assaulted and his taxi was severely damaged during a drunken weekend attack.

If screening was taken on by Cairns cabbies, it would follow in the footsteps of Sydney and bigger cities like New York where most taxis are fitted with the equipment