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…SHAME SHAME


WOMAN’S FURY OVER ‘TAXI DRIVER DISTRACTED BY WATCHING MANCHESTER UNITED ON HIS PHONE’


A woman was left fearing for her safe- ty after claims a taxi driver spent an en- tire journey watch- ing a Manchester United game on his phone. Paula Neal, 31, had been travelling in a taxi booked through Club Cars in Wyth- enshawe, when she noticed her driver was preoccupied. Photographs show the male driver with one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on his mobile phone, at- tached to the windscreen. He appears to have been watching a game between Man-


chester United and Bournemouth, which Paula claims was played during her journey on Saturday 2 November. The support worker says the five-minute journey from her work to the Civic Centre, left her feel- ing uneasy and fearing for both her own, and others safety. “I got in the back of the taxi and the driver had his phone pinned to the wind- screen and was watching the foot- ball,” Paula said. “As we started mov- ing, I was expecting him to turn it off but he didn’t and in-


stead kept it run- ning the whole time.” Paula says she with was with another passenger, and claims that when the pair started talk- ing, the driver turned the volume


GREAT YARMOUTH DRIVER WAS 6 TIMES OVER LIMIT FOR COCAINE


A taxi driver who had taken cocaine was found slumped over the wheel of his cab at a taxi rank. Kevin Jackson ad- mitted driving above the legal drug/drive limit when he ap- peared at Great Yar- mouth Magistrates’ Court in November. The court heard the now homeless 59- year-old was seen in his cab by a police officer in Market Gates, Great Yar- mouth at around 9.30am on March 27. Prosecuting, Victoria Bastock said he was described by the officer as being


slumped over the steering wheel. He also spotted a defect on a tyre. Having “some con- cerns”, a breath test and drugs wipe were carried out. A blood test revealed he was more than six times over the legal limit for cocaine. She said he admitted taking cocaine, and that he was there for trade as a taxi driver at the time. In mitigation Anne- Marie Sheridan said he had finished his shift, gone to the Troll Cart pub for a coffee and had taken cocaine. His inten-


JANUARY 2020


tion was to drive home and rest ahead of his next shift. The light had come on in his cab be- cause he had started the engine and needed then to physically turn it off. “There were no pas- sengers queuing and his intention was to go home,” she said. He had been work- ing as a taxi driver for three years and his licence was taken from him “that very day.” He was banned from driving for 20 months and ordered to pay fines and a surcharge totalling £232.


on his phone up. She told the Manch- ester Evening News: “He was watching the football and glancing at the road, not watching the road and glancing at the football. “I couldn’t believe it and wasn’t really quite sure how to react. It was really


dangerous.” Paula reported the matter to Manch- ester Council and says she is con- cerned after notic- ing the driver is still on the road. “I have booked two more taxis with [the company] and he’s turned up as my driver,” Paula fumed. I’ve had to cancel the trip because I don’t feel safe get- ting in his car.” In correspondence from Manchester Council, Paula was told there was ‘in- sufficient evidence’ to support any for- mal action against the driver. Manchester Evening News understands that the driver has been issued with a


warning in relation to the incident, but no formal action has been taken by police or the coun- cil. A spokesperson for the council said: “We robustly inves- tigate any alle- gations that drivers licensed by the City Council are not upholding the stan- dards we expect of them.” A spokesperson for the operator said: “Although Club Cars does not con- done the alleged actions, a private hire driver is self employed and the police and licensing authority are fully equipped to resolve these kinds of issues.”


FELIXSTOWE TAXI DRIVER ASSAULTED PASSENGER


A former taxi driver who assaulted a passenger has been given a suspended prison sentence. Sentencing Jeremy Mason at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge David Goodin said: “This court is well used to protecting taxi drivers from out of control fares who misconduct them- selves and use violence towards taxi drivers late on Saturday nights or in the early hours of Sunday morning. “This time the boot


is on the other foot. Your fare had had a good evening and you grossly overre- acted to a perceived threat from him.” According to the Ipswich Star, Mason, 60, from Felixstowe, admitted unlawfully inflicting grievous bodily harm on 2 February 2019 and having a baseball bat as an offensive weapon in High Road, Trimley St Martin on the same date. He was given a 16- month prison sen-


tence suspended for two years and a 20- week electronically monitored curfew from 7.30pm to 5am. He was also ordered to pay £1,200 costs, £200 compensation and a £140 victim sur- charge. Folishade Abiodun, for Mason, said her client no longer worked as a taxi driver and “deeply regretted” his be- haviour which she described as “com- pletely out of character.”


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