By Taxi driver allegedly subjected to barrage of racial abuse by group of youths in Cleethorpes
A taxi driver was allegedly subjected to a barrage of verbal and racial abuse by a group of youths in Cleethorpes on Saturday (23 October) night.
The entire incident, which took place on Thrunscoe Road at around 11pm, was witnessed by a member of the public.
The eyewitness told Gi Media: “I was staying over at my partner’s house down Thrunscoe Road where I heard some guys outside chanting and being loud.
“Seeing as it’s a cut-through to most bars in Cleethorpes, I didn’t think anything of it – until I heard a bang and a car screech to a halt. I quickly ran to the window to see what had happened.”
The onlooker said he saw a taxi stop in the middle of the road, and between five and six youths – who he estimates were aged between 16 and 18 – then proceeded to surround the vehicle.
The witness continued: “The driver claimed one of them threw a van at his car and scratched it and asked why. The youths denied it and the situation seemed to have calmed down, until one of them approached the car and told him to ‘f**k off’.
“The driver asked for their names and that’s when they became more irate.
“As the driver began to drive away, they all barraged his car with beer cans whilst shouting racist abuse at him. I’m pretty confident one went inside his open window too.”
Between April 2020 and March 2021, there were 320 recorded incidents of hate crime in North East Lincolnshire, according to the NELC Crime and Disorder Committee’s Community Partnership Report.
69 per cent (221 incidents) of these were racially motivated, the report reveals.
The eyewitness said he was left “outraged” by what he witnessed.
“We live in a multi-cultural society now where people from all different races, genders and beliefs co-exist,” he said.
“My children have been taught to accept everyone for who they are. But, this kind of behaviour worries me in what kind of world my children will grow up in.
“This act of racism and pure ignorance is nothing shy of bad influence and bad teachings from their parents.
“I was outraged that this kind of behaviour still happens from the youth of this era. My thoughts are also directed at the driver who had to go through this to which many people of minority will have to go through at some point in their life. I hope he also sees this article to see nobody tolerates this kind of behaviour.”
Humberside Police have been contacted for comment on this alleged incident.
