Taxi driver feared he could be a target at Southport attack

The taxi driver who took Axel Rudakubana to the scene of the Southport attack said he believed there was a gunman and he could be a target, as he explained why he drove away despite seeing children fleeing.

Gary Poland, a driver for One Call Taxis, did not call emergency services until 50 minutes after hearing screams at the Hart Space, having picked up another fare and returned home first.

Giving evidence over video link to the Southport Inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall on Thursday, Mr Poland said he threatened to call the police when Rudakubana ignored his requests to pay, but thought he had gone to get money when he went into the building, where the Taylor Swift-themed dance class was being held.

The teenager murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and attempted to murder 10 others in the attack on July 29.

In a statement, Mr Poland said:

“I consider that I should have called police earlier. In hindsight, I wish I had done and it’s something that I do think about every day, what I should have done and how this is my fault because I drove him there.

“I should have checked on the welfare of the children and helped.

“I thought there was a gunman shooting at people and I believed this to be the person who I had just been shouting at to pay me a fare and threatened to call the police, so I did believe that I was in danger of being a target.

“I regret not helping the children. Their screams were harrowing and I can still hear them when I think back to that day.”

He said he was in “complete shock”, which is why he did not check on the children’s welfare.

In a statement, he said:

“This was terrifying. I was in a state of complete mortal terror and shock.”

The inquiry heard a minute after leaving Hart Street, Mr Poland rang his friend Julian Medlock, who ran a garage near to the Hart Space.

A transcript of the call, shown to the inquiry, showed Mr Poland said:

“He just f shot everyone ain’t he?”

He told the inquiry he had picked up Rudakubana, whose name was listed as Simon, from his home in Banks, Lancashire, and after checking the address with him they travelled in silence before arriving at Hart Street at 11.44am.

He said during the journey Rudakubana did not give him cause for suspicion.

When he dropped him off, he said, he did not realise he was carrying a knife.

He told the inquiry:

“If I’d have thought he had a knife I’d have got out and disarmed him.”

Counsel to the inquiry Nicholas Moss KC asked:

“You would have got out and disarmed him, you think?”

Mr Poland said:

“Yeah. It’s only a knife.”

He said that when Rudakubana went into the building he assumed he had gone to get cash to pay his fare.

But the taxi driver said he then “heard all this screaming” and thought he heard four or five gunshots.

Mr Poland later told police:

“That’s when I got worried,”

“And I thought, ‘I’m not going to confront anyone with a gun’.”

A minute later after leaving Hart Street, Mr Poland called his friend Mr Medlock, asking if he had heard gunshots.

Mr Moss asked the witness:

“It stands to reason, you have realised immediately this was a very serious incident?”

Mr Poland replied:

“Oh yes.”

In a statement, Mr Poland described “extremely vivid” screaming of children and went on to say:

“I then saw a mass huddle of children aged approximately six or seven. They were screaming, it was like a stampede for their lives.”

Mr Moss continued:

“Do you accept, as you drove away, children were fleeing alongside your car. And you can be seen looking in the rear view camera?”

Mr Poland said:

“That’s correct,”

He added:

“I did not know anybody was injured. I did not see anybody injured.”

Mr Poland drove away for two to three minutes before parking up at 11.49am.

Mr Poland said he accepts he should have called police as soon as he was out of harm’s way.

He said he called Mr Medlock because he was scared for his welfare and believed there had been a shooting incident.

Mr Moss said:

“At any time during this call did you say anything about those young girls or their welfare?”

Mr Poland replied:

“I don’t think so.”

The witness denied any anti-police feeling or reluctance to call them.

He said:

“If I thought there was a need to call police, I would.”

Mr Poland said he accidentally then accepted to take another fare on his booking app and only did so because he did not know what he was doing in that moment.

On the journey a transcript of the conversation showed him having a “mundane” conversation about the weather and work.