Horror as taxi driver decapitates himself outside cafe

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:41 PM on 10th July 2009

The death happened shortly after midnight yards from a 24-hour cafe used by black-cab drivers

A taxi driver decapitated himself after tying a rope around his neck and a post before driving off at high speed.

The incident took place just metres from a 24-hour cafe.

The man, believed to be in his thirties, is said to have then driven off at full speed in the early hours of this morning, aiming straight at a pillar.

His head was found yards from his taxi in Great Suffolk Street in Southwark, London.

A cab driver, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: 'One of the drivers was at the scene just afterwards.

'He saw the cab all smashed up against the pillar, with the drivers body still inside the vehicle.

'He then saw the head lying on the side of the road next to some rope. It is horrific.'

The death happened shortly after midnight at a disused petrol station yards from a 24-hour cafe used by black-cab drivers.

The witness added: 'The driver who arrived at the scene just afterwards alerted the police and ambulance service.

'Some people from the flats nearby also came running out of their homes when they heard the crash.'

Scotland Yard said the death was not being treated as suspicious but it was investigating.

Ambulance services attended at 12.40am and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police were trying to trace the drivers next of kin today. They were also trying to establish if the dead man was a genuine black-cab driver.