'A taxi driver drove off with my nine-year-old. We're still not sure why'

"When the door shut, he floored it - and kept going despite my husband running behind and screaming."

A mum has unlocked a new fear for parents everywhere. 

On New Year’s Eve, a taxi driver sped off with Jenna's nine-year-old son, Oscar, asleep in the back seat.

Jenna, her husband, and their two kids had booked the taxi just after midnight to head home after celebrations.

What unfolded was every parent’s worst nightmare.

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"He's literally just sped off"

Jenna is now issuing a warning, by posting a TikTok about the terrifying incident.

She explained that her husband placed Oscar in the car first before walking around to the front passenger seat.

“That was the first mistake...  never again will they ever go in a car without us in there first ever again."

Jenna and her daughter weren’t far behind, saying their last goodbyes to the friends they’d spent the evening with.

Her husband told the driver they had more passengers coming and wouldn’t be long—a reasonable request.

But the driver ignored it.

“So he closed the taxi door, walked around the taxi… and he's looked at the driveway to see whereabouts I am,” she recounted.

“During this time [the driver] literally just sped off like so fast.”

Oscar, tired from the New Year’s celebrations, had no idea he was being driven away from his parents.

“I just heard all this shouting, and in my head, I thought the taxi's gone without, just without any of us," Jenna said.

"So I've gone to the bottom of the drive and seen my partner literally chasing after this car."

That’s when panic set in.  

Image: TikTok

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"He's being kidnapped!"

Desperate, she tried calling the driver's number—the one he’d used to let her know he was outside—but in her panic, she accidentally rang someone else.

Oscar woke up amid the chaos, realising instantly something wasn’t quite right. 

"He said to the driver, he said 'Excuse me, you've left my parents',” she explained. 

With her husband still chasing the car, the driver finally stopped, allowing him to open the door and fish his son out to safety.

The parents didn’t hold back their anger.

Jenna berated the driver: "What the hell are you doing? You just drove off with a child in the car!"

As for remorse—there wasn’t much.

"He didn't give much of an explanation as to why he drove off," Jenna said.

The entire situation was traumatic for everyone involved.

“"My little girl is seven and she was just screaming after this taxi," she said.

"She was going, 'Oscar my brother. He's being kidnapped. He's being kidnapped!'”

The comment section of Jenna’s TikTok was flooded with support and outrage.

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“I’d have dragged the driver out,” read one. 

Another said, "Can’t imagine how petrified you all were.”

"This has never crossed my mind, I'll be making sure I'm in the car first... this is terrifying," a third added.

Jenna has since filed a complaint with the taxi company and is looking to take further action. While she hopes it was an honest mistake, she finds it hard to believe.

"Main thing is everyone is safe," she concluded. 

Originally published as 'A taxi driver drove off with my nine-year-old. We're still not sure why'