Hunt on for cabbie after sex attack on female passenger

A TAXI driver was today being hunted by police after indecently assaulting a young woman he had picked up in his black cab.

The 23-year-old victim was left "very upset and distressed" after being attacked in the taxi just yards from her front door following a night out with friends.

The victim's family had ordered her a taxi to take her home when the suspect's black cab, which was licensed in Edinburgh, pulled up beside her in Lauder Road in Dalkeith.

The woman wrongly assumed the cab was intended for her and got inside for the short journey to her home in the town's Larch Crescent.

But the cabbie, a man in his late 30s, indecently assaulted her before driving off at around 2:40am on Sunday morning.

Detectives are now working with black cab firms in the Capital in a bid to identify drivers who were on duty at the time.

Officers have also appealed to anyone who may have been dropped off by the driver in Dalkeith before he picked up the victim.

Detective Constable Liam Maguire, who is leading the investigation, said: "The victim was standing on her own waiting for a taxi which had been ordered by a family member.

"Just after the call had been made for her, a black Hackney-style cab arrived.

"She thought it was the taxi ordered for her and got in. She was driven the three or four-minute journey to her street and at that time the driver has indecently assaulted her. She's been very upset and distressed, and has run to her home to alert her family, who called police."

The suspect is described as white, late 30s, 5ft 6in tall, medium build, short dirty blond hair, clean-shaven, with a local accent. He wore light blue denims and white/cream T-shirt with a dark motif on the front.

Officers have traced CCTV images of the taxi and managed to establish that the vehicle had Edinburgh City Council plates.

The driver of the taxi ordered for the victim also saw the suspect's vehicle in Dalkeith, and confirmed it was registered in the Capital, which has approximately 1,400 black cabs on the books.

DC Maguire added: "Enquiries are being carried out with the Edinburgh Cab Office.

"We are also continuing to examine CCTV from the Dalkeith and Mayfield areas, as well as cameras from Lothian buses.

"We are also looking into whether this was a Midlothian-based driver who was returning home after a shift."

Derek Bridgeford, a spokesman for the Scottish Taxi Federation, said: "All taxi drivers will cooperate with police over this matter as we don't want people like that driving black cabs."

Bogus private hire drivers have been involved in a number of incidents where passengers have been attacked.

Last February, a 19-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a man masquerading as a private hire driver who picked her up outside City nightclub on Market Street.