Taxi driver 'saved girl from paedophile' who tried to abduct her

Satbir Arora has been praised for saving a girl from "an unthinkable ordeal"

A man who foiled a paedophile's bid to abduct a girl hopes the case will raise awareness of online grooming.

Taxi driver Satbir Arora raised the alarm after he drove the teenager alone to a railway station.

She had been due to meet Sam Hewings, 24, who has been jailed for attempted abduction from Gloucester railway station, early on 20 February.

Mr Arora, of Bicester, has now won an award from his employers Cherwell District Council.

Hewings, of Hadley Road, Cam, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to attempted abduction and the distribution and making of indecent images and was jailed for five years, on 21 November.

Talking about the case, Mr Arora said the girl initially told him she was on her way to a surprise birthday party, but eventually admitted to his wife over the phone she had not told her parents.

Mr Arora said: "It basically came to me that this is a grooming case, that someone groomed her over the internet."

Mr Arora received an award from his employer Cherwell District Council

He spoke to Hewings over the phone and recorded their conversations, which were later used as evidence against him, and told a police officer when they arrived at the station.

Mr Arora said: "I just think, thank god that girl was saved. It could have been my daughter getting into something like that online. This is just a realisation for everyone to be alert."

Kieron Mallon, the district council's lead member for public protection, said the taxi driver had "saved his passenger from an unthinkable ordeal".

"This shocking case reinforces the importance of the safeguarding training we provide to our taxi drivers," he said.

Sam Hewings was jailed for five years at Gloucester Crown Court