.


BOLTON DRIVER WHO GAVE FALSE NAME IS SPARED JAIL


A Bolton taxi driver who gave a false name when caught going through a red traffic light, has been spared a jail term. In March, 2011, Yakub Darvesh drove through a red light in Chorley New Road but when the details of the car driver were requested, he sent off a false name. Bolton Crown Court heard that a short time later the driver, who is also a trained religious


leader, rectified the sit- uation,


providing


correct details. Darvesh, 50, pleaded guilty to doing an act intending to pervert the course of justice. Judge Timothy Stead sentenced him to do 75 hours’ unpaid work and pay £500 prose- cution costs, and told Darvesh: “You rather gave


have


UNJUST DESSERTS POLICE CHOOSE NOT TO


PROSECUTE MALDON DRIVER insufficient


thought to what you were doing although you must


realised it was wrong to an extent, and I think you made the mistake of listening to others who led you into error in this case. “Ordinarily, people who do this sort of thing go to prison, but I don’t think you are as much to blame as many people who appear in such cases. I don’t think you are a bad man and I don’t think we will see you here again.”


LOUGHBOROUGH DRIVER HIT BY DUO WORSE FOR DRINK


A taxi driver suffered facial injuries after being attacked by two passengers in a car park, a court heard. Joshua Roe and Samuel Wardell both received suspended detention sentences after admitting caus- ing actual bodily harm. According to the Leicester Mercury, Leicester


Court was told the pair were the worse for drink, having been out celebrating Roe’s 18th birthday, on August 6, 2011.


Jonathan Dunne, prosecuting, said the defendants got into a taxi


in Loughbor- Crown


ough, at 3.45am, and paid £35 up front for a fare to Ashby. He said: “On arrival, they directed him to a dark car park at the back of a leisure cen- tre. They asked him to drive into an isolat- ed corner, but he became suspicious and stopped the vehi- cle in the middle of the car park, covered by CCTV cameras.” The pair got out and Roe went round and


punched the driver to in his face. Wardell joined in. The defendants, both 19, left the victim with a bruised face and chest, a black eye and a cut which needed stitches. Roe and Wardell were both given eight-month jail sen- tences, suspended for 12 months. Roe, who also admit- ted theft, was given a concurrent month


four- detention


sentence, suspended for a year, with 100 hours of unpaid work.


BLACKPOOL CABBIE’S ANGER AS CRASH DRIVER AVOIDS JAIL


A taxi driver whose cab was written off after a horror collision has told of his anger after the driver of the other car escaped a jail sentence. Gareth Nelson, 21, from St Annes, was sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, by Blackpool magistrates after he crashed his mother’s Mini Cooper into Mar- tin Farrington’s Fair- way taxi on the Prom- enade.


PAGE 32


He pleaded guilty to the aggravated taking of a vehicle, driving without insurance and not


in accordance


with his licence. Mr Farrington, 27, suf- fered severe whiplash and two cuts to his head as a result of the crash, which hap- pened in the early hours of March 1. Speaking to The Blackpool Gazette after the sentencing, he said: “I don’t like to see people just thrown in jail but it


seems like he’s got off pretty lightly.” Nelson was also ordered to do 100 hours’ unpaid work and pay £85 costs plus £80 victims’ sur- charge. Mmmm… Just what is the point of sus- pended sentences? The criminals in both these stories caused bodily harm to an innocent party; what sort of deterrent is a few months’ detention which


is served? – Ed. never


A Chelmsford taxi driv- er who claims he was reversed into by a fel- low cabbie over a territory dispute is furi- ous after police chose not to prosecute. Driver Arron Grattin caught the Maldon- registered taxi picking up a group of revellers from Duke Street, Chelmsford,


in the


early hours of May 5. despite it being unli- censed to work in the area. As both cars dropped off the large group of passengers on Bank Street, Braintree, at 2am he decided to confront the man in his cab. “As soon as I dropped my group off I saw the other car drop his pas- sengers round the corner,” Arron, 22,


from Braintree told the Essex Chronicle. “I went over to him and asked why he was tak- ing


fares from


Chelmsford when he is not allowed. “He got annoyed and wanted to drive off. so he reversed his car and hit me three times. “Now I’m on crutches and I can’t really work because the impact has damaged the nerves in my knee.” The injured 22-year- old then says he waited 90 minutes for police after reporting the incident but claims no officers arrived. He is outraged that police have now dealt with


the matter


through neighbour- hood or community resolution, an ap- proach where the offi-


cer decides if crimi- nals and their victims can agree to resolve an offence without the need for a prosecu- tion. “I don’t think that is the best message to send to other people - that you can get away with something as terrible as that if it is your first offence. “I thought this incident would have been more than enough, what needs to happen? Does someone need to be killed? It should- n’t have to get that far.” Arron, who has been a cabbie for just a year, has now arranged a meeting with staff at Chelmsford Council


City to discuss


how they can do more to assist fellow taxi drivers.


NO JAIL FOR MAN IN BURNLEY ‘BLOW UP’ THREAT


A man who threatened to blow up a taxi office in


Burnley has


escaped prison. Warren Templeton, 29, from Burnley, who suf- fers with mental health issues, pleaded guilty to common assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice. According to the Burn- ley Express, Burnley Crown Court heard Templeton had offered money to two witness- es, told them that he had access to chemi- cals and would blow up their place of work. He was given an 11- month sentence sus- pended for two years after the threat, which was made in April. Burnley Crown Court heard from Sarah Statham, prosecuting, about a previous occasion in March. Templeton had ap- proached a taxi in St James Street and asked the driver, Mohammed Ishtaq,


about a mobile phone through the driver’s side window. Miss Statham told the court Templeton then grabbed Mr


Ishtaq


around the neck and began “smacking his head back on the head rest at


least four


times” before Mr Ish- taq used his radio for help. Miss Statham said on April 8th, Templeton went to the AA Taxis office on Cow Lane, Burnley, at 3am again talking about a mobile phone. Miss Statham told the- court that Templeton, who was carrying a can of lager at the time, offered to pay Mr Ishtaq and another man £400 each to not go to court or not give any evidence at court. He threatened to blow the office up and Miss Statham said Temple- ton had “seemed deadly serious” to the two witnesses.


Philip Holden, defend- ing, said his client suffered with psy- chosis


and the


deterioration of his mental health ap- peared to be influ- enced by the break- down in a relationship. However, Mr Holden said Templeton had been prescribed med- ication


and was


“feeling better” for it. Recorder Abigail Hud- son said that the latter offence was clearly the more serious but said Mr Ishtaq had simply been doing his job when Templeton had “attempted to strangle him, albeit for a short period”. Templeton was or- dered to have 18 months of probation service mental health treatment, with 18 months’ supervision, and pay a £100 sur- charge. He was also given a two-year restraining order on going to the taxi office.


PHTM JULY 2013


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