102 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY


JANUARY 2009 HERO OF THE YEAR SEPTEMBER


BRIGHTON CABBIE PRAISED FOR HIS QUICK REACTIONS


A taxi driver has been hailed a hero after he rushed into a restaurant and put out a fire. Tony Head, of Spring- field Road, Brighton, alerted people living in flats above the premis- es, grabbed the extinguisher from his cab and managed to douse the flames. The 40-year-old, who has driven cabs for Brighton-based City Cabs for two years, jumped into action after spotting the fire at Goodies in Beacons- field Road, Brighton on 20th July.


He told the Brighton Argus: “My car was parked outside the pizza restaurant, I turned around towards the shop and at first I


thought, ‘My God, that kebab spit is glowing very red.’ I did a double take and realised it was some pizza boxes on some shelves that were alight.


“The flames were start- ing to take hold so I got my phone out and rang the fire brigade, then rang the doorbell to the flats above the shop. “A man and a young lady came downstairs and noticed the door to the pizza place wasn’t on its latch and they pushed it open. “We called out to the pizza shop but there was nobody there. I went to the car and got the fire extinguisher.” Mr Head said his reac- tion was automatic. He said: “Looking back


SEPTEMBER ASTUTE NEWCASTLE CABBIE


SAVES GIRL FROM RAPE TERROR Convicted rapist


Andrew Beal trawled Tyneside posing as a taxi driver. He prowled the streets in his car for hours looking for vic- tims before picking up a young woman. The 19-year-old, who was worse for wear through drink, told of her amazingly lucky escape from his clutches. Little did she know she was about to fall into the hands of a danger- ous sexual predator. The genuine taxi driver who saved her told the Northern Evening Chron- icle how he stopped Beal driving off with her. Jailed more than a decade earlier for rap- ing and beating another teenager,


it


later emerged Beale’s car had been seen on CCTV trawling around Newcastle.


Beal, 39, of Breamish, Ellington, Northumber- land, awaits sentence after being convicted of kidnapping the young woman with intent to commit a sexual offence. The woman, who can- not be named for legal reasons, said: “This has really scared me. I feel really lucky for nothing to have happened to me


that night. I want him locked away until he no longer poses a risk to other girls.”


The victim, whose par- ents were in court to support her,


also


thanked hackney car- riage driver Stephen Sholder, who saved her. The 49-year-old dad-of- two said he reacted quickly because, as a father, he wouldn’t want his daughter to suffer a similar fate. Mr Sholder, a taxi driver for 28 years, who is based at Newcastle Central Station, said he was delighted the dan- german had been convicted. Had it not been for his action in blocking Beal’s car and alerting a police officer, who had also seen the girl, Beal could have car- ried out his pattern of brutal rape.


Mr Sholder told the Chroncle: “It makes my blood boil to see people like Beal driv- ing around the city looking for vulnerable young women. He should get at least 15 years for that.


“That lass is such a small, frail bairn. She was drunk and was unable to stand up


properly. He had this white sheet on the back seat of his car. “He clearly wasn’t a cabbie. I would advise young women to make arrangements to get in a hackney cab at night or at least order a private hire to pick you up at a certain time and place.” Mr Sholder, who gave evidence at the trial, said he and his passen- gers were moving in slow traffic when they saw what happened. “The lass was sitting on a bollard when he pulled up in his car. He leaned across and started talking to her. She practically fell into the back of the car.


I


knew he wasn’t a gen- uine cab and I could only think about her safety. You see quite a few sights in this job. “I blocked his car in and told the police offi- cer. She was out of it on the back seat. When I stopped him he looked shocked.”


Mr Sholder said his daughter is only ten, but he would like to think if it happened to her in a few years’ time someone would do the same thing to protect her.


now I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God.’ Afterwards I was scared, but it was just an impulse, I sup- pose.


“Once I put the fire out I came outside and almost immediately the fire brigade turned up and they investigated the building.”


Fire-fighters from Hove and Roedean spent just under an hour at the shop making sure the fire was out.


Michael Hildretch, operations manager at City Cabs, said: “We are very proud of him. He did a good public duty that day. We are pleased he is public spirited and managed to put the fire out before it got any worse.”


OCTOBER


BRAVE TRIO FACED UP TO GUNMAN IN LEICESTER


A mum-of-three and a taxi driver who tackled an armed robber have relived the terrifying moment the man point- ed the gun at their faces and pulled the trigger. Sarah Black rushed to help cabbie Darren Ben- nett as he wrestled the gunman to the ground in Astill Lodge Road, Beau- mont Leys, Leicester. Moments earlier, Mr Ben- nett had jumped out of his taxi after seeing raider Paul Knight pull a gun on a passenger he had just dropped off so she could deliver her boss’s takings to the post office.


The female passenger, who did not want to be named, hung on to the bag, even when the man pointed the weapon at her throat but was even- tually knocked to the ground, which is when Mr Bennett ran to her aid.


As Knight and Mr Ben- nett wrestled on the ground, Knight started to beat the taxi driver on the head with his gun until he was forced to let go.


With no thought for her own safety, Ms Black, who had been inside the post office with her two three-year-old daugh-


ters, ran over and put her coat over Mr Bennett’s head to stem the bleed- ing.


As she attempted to administer first aid, Knight pointed the gun and shouted: “I’m going to blow you away.” He then pulled the trigger, but the gun did not work. Ms Black spoke about the ordeal for the first time after all three vic- tims received police bravery awards. The 24-year-old, who lives in Beaumont Leys, Leicester, said her chil- dren were left “traumatised” after wit- nessing the attack when they followed her out of the post office.


She told the Leicester Mercury: “I was just buy- ing my little girls some sweets when a woman ran in screaming, ‘Ring 999, he’s got a gun.’ “I ran out and saw the rob- ber and Darren, who was absolutely covered in blood.


“He carried on hitting Darren, even after he let go. I ran over and took my coat off to put it on his head, and as I was doing that, he just point- ed the gun. “All I could think was that my chil- dren were watching. “I was just shouting, “Get


NOVEMBER


HONOUR FOR BRAVE FOLKESTONE CABBIE FRED


A heroic Folkestone cab- bie who helped catch a man who sexually assaulted a young woman on a night out has been commended for his actions.


Armed with a description of the attacker, taxi driver Fred Godden jumped in his Fiat Scudo people carrier in a desperate bid to track him down after the woman went into the Channel Cars office in Grace Hill to report her ordeal.


Against the odds, the brave Woodfield Close resident found danger- ous predator Ludvic Prucha near the Grand Burstin Hotel and alerted police.


Officers stormed nearby Pavilion Court flats and arrested the 26-year-old in his home after Mr God- den identified him. The modest 41-year-old


told the Folkestone Her- ald: “When the girl came into the office she was in pain and very upset. She told me what had hap- pened and I asked for his description and went out to find him.


“I didn’t really question it, I just went out and hoped to find him so he could be arrested.”


Last month the father-of- one received a rare certificate of commenda- tion from Kent’s High Sheriff Richard Oldfield in recognition of his actions.


Judge James O’Mahony, who presented the acco- lade, said: “Fred Godden is made of stern stuff. “In these courts, to quote the Scottish play, we ‘suck full of horrors’. We see all sides of human behaviour. But one of those things which caus- es spirits to rise is to see


now and again this kind of human behaviour. “People prepared to stand up and be counted and not leave it to the authorities or fear reprisals.”


After being apprehend- ed, Czech national Prucha admitted sexually assaulting the woman in the early hours of Thurs- day, October 11th 2007. Appearing at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court in February, he was ordered to serve 16 months behind bars and faces deportation when he is released. Former mechanic Mr Godden, who has been married to wife Victoria for three years, added of Prucha: “You don’t want that sort of person who’s clearly a danger to women walking around in the middle of the night.”


my kids out the way.” “He was so callous, you could see he just didn’t care.”


Although Knight man- aged to get away with the bag of money, Mr Bennett managed to remove the crash helmet he was wearing, which police used to gain forensic evidence linking Knight to the crime. Mr Bennett, 37, a father- of-two, first spoke to the Leicester Mercury about his ordeal in March after Knight, 30, was jailed for six years for the robbery which happened in November last year. After receiving his award at the Leicestershire Police Chief Constable’s Award Ceremony last month, he said: “He just kept hitting me over the head again and again until eventually I had to let go.


“That’s when he pointed the gun at us and said he was going to kill me. “He pulled the trigger, but it seemed to lock. Police said he could have hit me so hard with it that it might have bro- ken.


“I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing at the time adrenaline just kicked in. I’d do it again if l had to.


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