IN THE
NEWS...IN THE NEWS..
STOKE-ON-TRENT DRIVER WHO WRESTLED WITH ABUSIVE PASSENGER LOSES LICENCE APPEAL
A Stoke-on-Trent taxi driver involved in a ‘wrestling match’ with an abu- sive passenger has lost his fight to have his licence reinstat- ed. Haq Mirza kicked a man who had punched him in the face when a row broke out over a fare. The 52-year- old was convicted of actual bodily harm following the brawl on April 12 last year despite claiming
self
defence. As a result, Stoke- on-Trent City Coun- cil’s licensing and registration panel revoked Mirza’s HC
and PH driver’s licences in July last year. Now Mirza, from Burslem, has failed in his bid to get his licence back. Trevor Vernon, pros- ecuting on behalf of the council, said: “He was convicted of a section ABH. It is that ground the local
authority
relied on in this case. “In July 2018, the police informed the council that whilst working as a taxi driver Mr Mirza be- came involved with a male passenger who threw a pre- emptive punch at Mr Mirza. The pas- senger was then
held by security from a store and Mr Mirza kicked the male on the ground three times.” Antony Schiller, rep- resenting Mirza, told the court his client was acting in self defence and had unsuccessfully tried to have the convic- tion overturned. He told the court: “There were three adults and two chil- dren in his hackney carriage. During the journey the injured party was being rea- sonably unpleasant to Mr Mirza. There was an argument over the fare of £5 which the injured party did not want
to pay, but it was a metered journey. “He was insistent that he was wasn’t going to hand a £20 note over without receiving
the
change beforehand. Temperatures rose as far as the passen- ger was concerned. Mr Mirza just said ‘get out of my cab’. The last person to get out was the injured party, who struck Mr Mirza in the face. He had a bloodied nose and has blood on his shirt. “Mr Mirza asked ‘why have you done that, why have you hit me?’. The men entered into what
Save money and improve productivity With a Smarter Taxi Telephone System
Stop payi g
Fewer lines to rent
li
Your oper w k
o or even abroad d
ork anywhere …h e b
forwarding charges on y
your out-of-arf area b
p p ying di g h t of
numbers
p ators can • IVR
ALL the features you could want …
has been described as a wrestling match. There were further blows to Mr Mirza. “And that was when the kicks were said to have occurred. But he says he did not kick him three times and a witness said it was once. “The injured party went to hospital and he discharged him- self.” Mr Schiller added: “The gentleman has 14 previous convic- tions involving vio- lence. So that’s the kind of person he was dealing with.” Upon refusing the appeal, Recorder Balraj Bhatia QC
ordered that Mr Mirza pay £700 in costs to the council. Mr Bhatia said: “We are not prepared to overlook the opinion of the committee and therefore the licence will be revoked.” Mmmm… The usual outcome unfortu- nately, that the court sides with the passenger rather than the driver, even though this passen- ger has a criminal record and the driv- er was acting in self defence. Justice? Don’t think so somehow… This is where CCTV may well have come in handy. – Ed.
No Minimum Contract.
24/7/365 Support Low Setup Cost.
The Best Customer Service
Call Us Now For a Quote In The Industry.
Ca l s NoCall l Us ow For 16 JANUARY 2020 s No w F or a Q r a Qu ote e 0800 524 4293
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
