Posted on the 6th October 2025 in PHTM News

KNIFE WIELDING ROBBERY HIGHLIGHTS TIDE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST FIFE AND TAYSIDE CABBIES

A Fife taxi driver, Kay Rooney, has spoken out about the lasting trauma following a knifepoint robbery by an attacker who was on bail for a similar offence.

On May 9, Kay Rooney was held up by passenger Claire Duncan, a crack addict who had appeared in court for a near-identical attack just five weeks earlier.

Duncan, a backseat passenger, "lunged across so quickly" and held a "massive breadknife" against Kay's neck, demanding cash and declaring: "Give me your money, don’t be a bitch."

Kay, who sustained a cut hand and friction burns while struggling, said she instantly thought "it was game over, I thought she was going to kill me," and tearfully recounted that when she pleaded: "You don’t want to do this, I’ve got kids," but Duncan "didn’t care." 

Duncan robbed her of her takings, phone chargers, and ID, and was later caught attempting to rob a third taxi driver.

Kay Rooney questioned why Duncan was at liberty to attack her, stating: "They made the wrong call, they let her out. I could have died... The punishment doesn’t fit the crime." 

Duncan, who wept during her court appearance, was sentenced to 40 months in prison, reduced from the maximum five years due to an early guilty plea.

The incident with Kay Rooney is part of a wider "tide of violence" against cab drivers in Fife and Tayside, which includes:

  • death threats and assaults: In January, staff at Kelty Taxis were "held in their office for 45 minutes" by a thug who issued "chilling death threats."

  • serious robberies: other incidents include a career criminal who told a driver in Methil he had a knife and rifled through his belongings, an incident labelled an "appalling assault and robbery," and a driver who had an "imitation firearm pressed against his head."

  • fatal violence: the most high-profile case was the murder of Dundee driver Mark Ward by a lifelong criminal who was out on five bail orders.

  • other attacks: Fife cabbies have been "bitten on the face," "terrified with firearms," and a female driver was "subjected to a sexual assault" in 2023.

Drivers in Dundee have reached the point of "demanding self-defence lessons" due to the fear.

Kay Rooney is now driving only "safe" contracts and known passengers, but suffers mentally, reporting "terrible, terrible nightmares" and PTSD. She lives in constant fear, saying: "Everybody is a potential for me now... I still feel the knife on my throat."

Fife Council stated they are aware of the incidents and "take driver safety extremely seriously," with all licensed drivers completing a training course that includes guidance on "recognising potentially risky situations and how to respond calmly and safely."

 


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