SHAME SHAME
COCAINE SNORTING RUNCORN CABBIE WHO SERIOUSLY INJURED PASSENGERS IN CRASH WALKS FREE
A cocaine snorting taxi driver who injured his passengers, including a child, after crashing into a lamp post has walked free from court due to a CPS charging blunder. The Liverpool Echo reports that Anthony Beck, 51, has walked free from court with a six-week sentence suspended for one year. Beck appeared in Liverpool Magis- trates’ Court on Wednesday 23 June, where a prosecutor explained that two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving would be dropped. Andrew Page, prosecuting, explained: “On December 29, 2019, Mr Beck was driving a taxi which led to a collision.” Mr Page said: “the Crown say serious injuries were sustained” by a child and an adult who were both passengers in the taxi. Emergency services were called to Edge Lane in Old Swan at 1.50pm, which resulted in a partial clo- sure of the carriageway. Beck, from Runcorn, was arrested for driving whilst over the limit for con-
trolled drugs. When he went to court he admitted two counts: of driving a car with a proportion of specified con- trolled drug above the legal limit and using a vehicle while unfit through drugs.
He was sentenced on November 30 last year to six weeks in prison suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 20 Rehabilitation Activity Require- ments. He was also banned from driving for two years. At the recent hearing Mr Page contin- ued: “It is abundantly clear when the court was sentencing Mr Beck for the drug driving it was fully aware of the extent of the criminality and the injuries had been taken into account.” Mr Page said: “Mr Beck runs the risk of being sentenced twice.”
HARROGATE’S AIRLINE TAXIS TO BE WOUND-UP WITH £55,000 DEBTS
A liquidator was been appointed on Friday 18 June, to wind-up Harrogate firm Airline Taxis, which has debts totalling £55,000. Creditors include Tracey Lee, a former telephone operator at the company who won an employment tribunal against the taxi firm in January last year. A judge ordered the company to pay her £25,501. She is yet to receive a penny and previ- ously described to the Stray Ferret the “horrible” process of trying to get the sum awarded through the courts. The company’s statement of affairs shows it also owes HSBC bank £20,000 for a bounce-back loan taken
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out last year. A directors report to creditors, signed by Airline’s sole director Mohammad Suleman, said the company experi- enced a “significant decline” in turnover due the covid lockdown. The report added “there is no prospect of a dividend to any class of creditor”. It also said Airline employed three staff and the rest were self-employed drivers. A company called Parade Taxis Limited was created in July last year with the same registered address as Airline Taxis on East Parade. Its sole director is Areefa Naz Suleman, the daughter of Mohammad Suleman.
He added there had been “serious con- sideration” to the case by senior members of the CPS and in all the cir- cumstances it would be wrong to continue with this prosecution for causing serious injury by dangerous driving. District Judge Wendy Lloyd ques- tioned the prosecution’s decision. The Judge said she took the view all charges should have proceeded at the same time and added: “It seems to me Mr Beck is very lucky in these circum- stances, but the Crown should have put everything together.” Iain Criddle of CPS Mersey Cheshire said: “Anthony Beck was charged with offences relating to driving a vehicle having consumed controlled drugs and was received a suspended prison sen- tence on 30 November. “The case was presented to the court on the basis that the driving was impaired, that the suspect was driving for reward and that injury was caused to the passengers who were taken to hospital.
“On 13 January 2021, the CPS gave authority for Anthony Beck to be charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving in respect of the same incident. “The CPS is required to keep all cases under continuous review. It became clear that the District Judge at the ear- lier hearing had been made aware of all aspects of the offending in this case and had taken these factors into account when deciding the appropri- ate sentence. “There is a general rule in criminal law that a person should not be tried twice for the same offence. Based on this, on 24 June 2021, the CPS applied for the second prosecution to be withdrawn. “The offence that was withdrawn was based on the same facts as the offences that Mr Beck had already been sentenced for on 30 November 2021.”
JULY 2021
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