Taxi driver 'wrongly jailed' over murder bid sues Police Scotland
Scott Troy said his name was ‘publicly trashed’ following arrest
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A taxi driver is taking legal action against Police Scotland over claims he spent 10 months in a prison after being wrongly arrested as part of a murder plot.
Scott Troy was sent by taxi rank bosses to collect four men in the Pollok area of Glasgow in August 2023.
Legal firm Digby Brown said unsuspecting Mr Troy had no idea his fare had just attempted to murder a shopkeeper in an attack that involved machetes, knives, and a blank firing imitation handgun.
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The High Court in Edinburgh last year heard how the victim in the attack suffered a catastrophic injury to his leg, which required to be amputated above the knee.
Around 12 days after the violent assault, Mr Troy was arrested by police on suspicion of being an accomplice to the plot as a getaway driver.
Digby Brown said the 43 year-old- who has been a taxi driver for nearly 10 years - spent nearly a year remanded at HMP Barlinnie despite his bosses having confirmed he had been responding to a routine booking and “would have been oblivious to the sinister plot.”
The firm said prosecutors eventually accepted he was not part of the crime and allowed him to return home.
Mr Troy has now launched a six-figure legal action against Scotland’s national police force in the Court of Session to seek recognition for the "psychological harm and the long-term impact to his work and personal life".
He said: “That night I was just doing my usual shift - I had no idea things were going to pan out the way they did. It really was the wrong place at the wrong time.
"When I picked up the four men, I didn't even think anything untoward was going on. The first I knew of any wrongdoing was when the police came to my house and cuffed me on the spot.
"I was completely innocent and I pleaded with the officers, but they wouldn't hear it. There was so much evidence to prove I was innocent - they even checked with my boss at the taxi rank who manages the bookings so the police knew I was just sent there by chance.”
Mr Troy added: “I was wrongly arrested, spent 10 months in Barlinnie and my name was publicly trashed. That kind of experience changes you."
Three men have since been jailed over the attempted murder. Liam McDonald, 36, was sentenced to 14 years behind bars, while Dylan Haldane, 37, was sentenced 13 years. Both men were sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh last December, having been found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow the previous month.
In June 2024, a third man, William Dickson, was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison at the High Court in Kilmarnock in connection with the same incident.
Theresa Mutapi, a partner at Digby Brown, who is leading Mr Troy's legal action, said: “Mr Troy was fulfilling his duty as a taxi driver by responding to a booking and had no way of knowing who his passengers were.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “As this is an ongoing legal case it would be inappropriate to comment.”