JANUARY 2009
PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY SAD B.....D OF THE YEAR AUGUST
FARE DODGER’S HANDBRAKE STUNT CAUSES SMASH IN MORPETH
A cabbie has relived the moment a passenger yanked his handbrake on, sending him skidding into a wall.
Ihsan Ashraf feared for his life when his car start- ed spinning out of control as he drove into Castle Square, Morpeth, Northumberland.
And when the vehicle finally came to a halt, the punter fled the scene without paying his fare. Ihsan, 25, of Fenham, had earlier picked up the man at the Gate entertainment complex, Newcastle, at around 10.25pm.
Noticing he had blood pouring from his nose and injuries to his hands, he asked for £20 up-front before making the trip to the market town.
Hackney carriage driver Ihsan, who has been a cabbie for more than a year, told the Evening Chronicle: “He seemed OK at first, but he had blood on his shirt and an
injured hand. He asked to go to Morpeth.
“I asked for some of the money up-front, as we do in these situations, and he gave me £20.
“I said that was fine and he could give me the rest when we got there. “In the town he was all right and was talking to someone on his phone. “But as soon as he got towards Morpeth, he started telling me how he was going to get his money back and pinch the rest of mine.
“Once we got into Mor- peth, just past the police station, the car started spinning. I tried to pull the handbrake on myself, which is when I realised he had already done that and that was why the spinning had started. “He tried to steal the taxi meter and damaged it. He also tried to grab some change from me and smeared blood all over the cup-holder.
SEPTEMBER GLOUCESTERSHIRE CRANK CALLER
DIALS 999 OVER HIS TAXI BILL A crank caller was arrested after dialling 999 to com- plain about being overcharged by a taxi driv- er.
The hoaxer, who made a second call pretending he was going to set himself alight, was fined £80 after two police cars, an ambu- lance and a fire engine were sent to his home. The 23-year-old, from Mick- elton, Gloucestershire, can be heard on the voice log making an official com- plaint that he had been charged “40 quid to travel
seven miles in a taxi”. A clip of the call has been released to show the kind of “total stupidity” plaguing forces up and down the country.
After receiving the calls officers rushed to the scene and conducted a search for the caller, who was found unharmed near- by shortly before 11pm. He was arrested and issued with a penalty notice for wasting police time.
PC Simon Bourne, from Stow police station, told
OCTOBER
CUNNING THIEF STEALS HARTLEPOOL TAXI
A taxi driver was left shak- en after a passenger asked him for help at a train station and made off with his month-old car. The cabbie had taken a man to the Hartlepool train station. On arrival, he got out of the black Skoda Octavia, locked it up and helped his passenger with the train timetable which he was struggling to understand.
But the passenger swiped his keys, unlocked the £14,000 car and drove off with the stunned driver
looking on. The driver, who has not been named, works for the firm 23 Taxis. Taxi boss Dave Hudson told the Hartlepool Mail: “I am concerned the car has been taken, but even more concerned by the manner in which it was done. It is terrifying to think the keys were snatched in person. “The driver came back to the office all shaken up He didn’t know what to do when it happened, it was so quick.
“He’s lost his £60 takings
for the night, his mobile phone was in the car and we have lost the car and the computer system.” He also believes the thief must have knowledge of their system, as the GPS equipment that tracks the car’s movement was quickly turned off. The four-week-old car has the firm’s markings on both sides, and a council taxi licence plate on the back. “The driver of the car described the man as an Asian male between 30 and 40 years old.”
the Western Daily Press: “To find out that this indi- vidual was wasting our time and committing emer- gency service vehicles and resources on a busy Satur- day night was deeply frustrating.
“He left us with no other option than to carry out an arrest and deal with him in the most appropriate man- ner.
“Ringing 999 with a non- emergency call and then claiming you will set your- self on fire are acts of total stupidity,” he added.
“Then, he opened the door and did a runner from there. Fortunately, because it happened near a police station, there was a car coming round the corner. I waved it down and told them what happened. “It was a terrible experi- ence and this person put my life at risk. I dread to think what could have happened if I had been going faster or had hit a pedestrian.”
Ihsan says his ordeal, on Saturday 5 July, left him scared to go back on the roads for a few days and has left him hundreds of pounds out of pocket. He added: “I had to take the rest of the night off because I was in a state of shock and it has made me think twice about pas- sengers I pick up.
Ihsan’s black cab had damages to its bumper and headlights, as well as the crack to the meter. The damage has been estimated at £1,100.
NOVEMBER 180 DAYS’ JAIL FOR SPRAYING
DUNDEE TAXI DRIVER IN THE FACE A Dundee man, who sprayed a taxi driver in the face with what he claimed was CS gas, was sentenced to 180 days’ imprisonment by Sheriff Macnair at Dundee. The Dundee Evening Tele- graph reports that Kevin Waterston (29), admitted that on August 8, at an address in Prieston Road, he assaulted a taxi driver by spraying the contents of a pressurised canister into his face.
drive them to an address where the driver and accused waited while the woman went into a build- ing and returned a short time later. They then asked to be taken to Prieston Road.
At the address they said they would have to get money for the fare from the house.
He also admitted that on August 30, at Ninewells Hospital, he breached the peace by shouting and swearing and assaulted a police officer by attempt- ing to headbutt him. Depute fiscal Paul Miele said the cab driver picked up Waterston and a woman and was asked to
The driver followed and heard the accused saying, “So, what are we going to do now?” At this the driver asked them to return to his cab and he was sprayed in the face with the unknown substance. The accused said, “You have just been sprayed with CS,” as he and the woman ran off.
Efforts were made to trace him but he remained at large until an
DECEMBER FURY AFTER PAISLEY CABBIE TELLS OAP TO ‘WALK HOME’
A frail pensioner claims she was snubbed by a “heartless taxi driver” who refused to take her home shortly after she became ill.
Marilyn Drummond, who suffers from Parkinsons disease, told the Paisley Daily Express she was denied a lift by the cab- bie as he was “too busy” to take her home. A stunned shop worker who had called the taxi on Marilyn’s behalf said he was appalled as the driver, employed by Clyde One, refused to accept the hire. The 64-year-old widow said: “This driver didn’t
seem to understand the pain I was going through at the time. The way in which I was treated was not only inappropriate but also added to my distress.” Spa employee Richard Porter, who booked the taxi and sat with Marilyn said he was horrified by the cabbie’s behaviour. He added: “It was absolutely appalling. Mrs Drummond needed help but the taxi driver was hurling abuse.”
Once the driver had left, Richard managed to get a telephone number for Marilyn’s son Andy and called him to explain
DECEMBER
SIX YEARS FOR LIVERPOOL CABBIE DRUG SMUGGLER
A Liverpool taxi driver was jailed for six years for smuggling 5,000 ecstasy tablets into the Channel Islands while on a family trip.
Carl Nelson, 31, was stopped by customs offi- cials at the harbour in St Helier, Jersey, on July 10 and his car was searched. The haul of tablets, val- ued between £5,000 and £50,000, was discovered hidden in the spare wheel in the boot of the vehicle.
When Nelson was arrest- ed, he was travelling with his wife and two chil- dren.
Customs officials noted
he had bought a day return ticket, signalling his intention to return back to the mainland after dropping off the package.
The court heard that Nel- son was working as a courier to hand over the drugs to unnamed peo- ple in Jersey.
It was said he had a drugs habit himself and was coerced into ferry- ing the package into St Helier by unscupulous criminals.
But his defence of taking part in the deal to fund his own addiction was disre- garded by the court. Michael Birt, deputy bailiff
of Jersey’s royal court, said: “The court could not accept as mitigation that he was pressurised into smuggling the tablets because the amount of drugs involved was sub- stantial.”
Steve Le Marquuand, director of law enforce- ment at Jersey customs, told the Liverpool Echo: “Although the court accepted that Nelson was just a courier in this deal, we have a zero-tol- erance approach to smuggling. Individuals who bring illegal drugs to the island will be prosecuted with the full force of the law.”
what had happened. Andy, 39, told the Express: “This driver left a sick woman stranded. I cannot believe anyone could be so heartless. David McCulloch, man- aging director of Clyde One’s parent company, Renfrewshire Cab Co, has offered his apolo- gies to Marilyn and insisted that an investi- gation into the incident has been launched and that appropriate action will be taken. He added: “We are very sorry to hear of the expe- rience this lady encountered.
incident on August 30 when police were called to a disturbance.
The accused was found at the incident in Huntly Road and was taken to Ninewells for treatment to a small cut on the head. Solicitor advocate Chris Fyffe said the spray was in fact breath freshener. Waterston believed the woman had money to pay the taxi and commit- ted the offence on the spur of the moment when he found she did not. Sheriff Macnair said that assaults on taxi drivers were going to be treated as serious offences because taxi drivers have to be, by the nature of their employment, on their own and the court has to be seen to protect them from assault by customers.
109
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136
