People always use the phrase “trust your gut,” but when it comes to actually following through, in tough situations, it’s often hard to follow your instincts without feeling like you have a good explanation in doing so.
Such was the case for one cab driver. When he made the choice to act on his instincts, he ended up uncovering a dark situation which saved a young girls life…
One Autumn Morning
Satbir Arora drove around on a Tuesday afternoon just like any other. He weaved through the neighborhoods in the Oxfordshire area looking for passengers when he came upon a young girl standing by the road calling for him to stop. Little did he know, he was about to stumble into a path of danger…
A Strange Request
Satbir drove up to the young girl. She looked no older than 13 and was dressed in a conservative school uniform. She requested Satbir take her to the Gloucestershire Station, but he felt a bit taken aback by the request. The young girl seemed nervous and he couldn’t quite figure out why…
During the Drive
Gloucestershire Station was just over an hour from Oxfordshire. Satbir felt like something just wasn’t right. He couldn’t figure out why she would need to travel to a train station in a cab that was over an hour from her home. He worried her parents did not know what was going on…
Asking Questions
Satbir noticed that the young girl was pretty anxious. He tried to start up a casual conversation, just a bit of small talk, to ease the tension. He began by asking her why she was heading so far from home…
No Luck
The girl, however, didn’t respond. She merely shrugged silently in the back of the cab. Still, Satbir pressed her for some sort of detail about her trip that might help him understand her situation. He asked where she was headed once she got to Gloucestershire…
Something Suspicious
The young girl didn’t reveal much, though, and said she was simply heading somewhere with a friend. Satbir grew increasingly suspicious. “Do your parents know about this?” he asked…
Hiding a Secret
The girl insisted her parents knew of the trip, becoming increasingly defensive as Satbir continued to question her. He didn’t believe her when she said her parents knew about the trip, though. He asked her for information about where she was going and who she was meeting, but the girl would reveal nothing more…
A Bad Feeling
Arora suddenly had a bad feeling. They were nearing the station and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something just wasn’t right about the situation, but he didn’t know what else to do…
Waiting For “A Friend”
When they arrived at the station, the young girl appeared to be looking around for someone. “Who are you waiting for?” he asked. “A friend,” she replied. She grabbed her backpack and quickly exited the vehicle…
Waiting
Satbir didn’t feel comfortable about leaving the girl alone, at least not until her friend had come to meet her. She lingered outside of the car, looking around for her friend. Her anxious behavior worried him, though. Satbir called his wife and explained the situation to her, hoping she would help him figure out what to do…
The Problem
Satbir and his wife ran their taxi service together, so he called her up. He needed her advice on how to help this girl. He kept his eye on the young girl while he told his wife about what had happened. She was equally as concerned…
Motherly Figure
After telling his wife about the situation, she had an idea. “She might be more comfortable speaking to me,” she said and Satbir agreed. Talking with a female, a motherly figure, might make her feel a bit more keen on opening up. He rolled down his window and called over to the girl…
Talk to Her
When several minutes passed and no one showed up to meet with the girl, Satbir called over to her to speak with his wife on the phone. She was hesitant, but agreed, and took the phone from his hands…
Asking Again
“Hello?” she said, putting the phone up to her ear. Satbir watched on as his wife chatted with the young girl on his phone. His wife asked her the same question he had asked her in the car, “Do your parents really know where you’re going?”
Getting Help
His wife continued to question her and called her out for being untruthful. The girl finally broke and admitted that she hadn’t told her parents about her plans. Because she was a minor, Satbir immediately wanted to get the police involved…
An Online Friend
He phoned the authorities and while they waited for officers to arrive, he asked her again who she was meeting. This time she said she was meeting a friend whom she met online. Instantly, Satbir knew this was not good…
Looking for Her
While all of this was occurring, 24-year-old Sam Hewings was making his way into the station, a backpack in hand, eyes peeled for a particular young girl…
The Call
Hewings rounded the corner when suddenly he noticed two police cars waiting at the station. Filled with anxiety, he decided to leave as quickly as he could without them noticing. Then suddenly, his phone rang…
Making the Call
Satbir asked if he could borrow the young girl’s phone and call the number of “the friend” she was meeting. She stared at him, unsure what to do, and clearly afraid, but finally, she handed over her phone to him…
The Mistake
On the other end, Hewings instinctually picked up the phone. But realizing his mistake, he quickly ended the call without saying a word to the person on the other end…
All On Camera
Hewings was seen answering the phone on the security camera just outside the station. The police were able to trace the number through the local tower the call had pinged from leading them to find sickening evidence…
The Revelation
They identified the caller as Sam Hewings. The police investigated what was going on and found that he had booked a train ride for the young girl to come back with him to his home. The uncovered online chat logs, which revealed the terrible things he had planned to do to her…
The Facts
Online logs were later presented to Gloucestershire Crown Court, which revealed a number of posts by Hewings revealing his true identity. Sam was a pedophile…
The Terrible Truth
Logs revealed that Hewings participated in chat groups where he discussed kidnapping, sedating, and even raping a victim, but that wasn’t even the start of it…
The Backpack
When they raided Hewings home, they found a backpack, the same one he had worn to the station that day. In it, they uncovered two sharp knives, a roll of duct tape, and an eyeglass case filled with co-codamol, a powerful sedative. Now, he stood before a judge, awaiting his fate…
A Day in Court
“From about September to November last year your chatlogs reveal your pedophile tendencies and desires,” said Judge Michael Cullum. “You said, ‘I have a teen in mind but she needs to be kidnapped.'” His true nature had been revealed…
A Sickening Plan
The judge said that it was clear to him that Hemings had intended to abduct the young girl. Hemings had led her to believe she would be safe, baiting her to travel to Gloucestershire. Had it not been for Satbir, the cabbie, and his instincts and actions, the young girl would have been abducted, or even worse…
Satbir, The Hero
The night before the near-abduction, the young girl had booked a taxi in the wee hours of the morning asking to be picked up at her home first thing in the morning. Satbir was able to identify that something was not right immediately from the get-go due to his safeguarding training several months before the incident…
Came in Handy
“The training was really useful. Because of the cases we read about on the safeguarding course I was able to recognize the signs and quickly spot that it was a grooming case,” he said. Because of his courage and ability to act on his instinct alone, Satbir received the highest honor from the Gloucestershire Police…
Very Grateful
Detective Constable Ian Bennett said of the incident, “I cannot praise the taxi driver enough for his actions in this case. He undoubtedly saved harm from coming to the girl and provided vital evidence for the prosecution.” He also emphasized the importance of safeguarding training for taxi drivers, as they are typically the means to an end for these types of situations.