IN THE NEWS


LEISURE CENTRE TO PAY £100,000 AFTER TRAGIC ELECTROCUTION OF PORTSMOUTH CABBIE


A leisure company has been ordered to pay £100,000 after a Portsmouth cabbie was tragically electrocuted by a faulty floodlight while playing football with friends. Albert Xhediku, a driver for City Wide Taxis, was playing a five-a- side game at the Mountbatten Centre in January 2016, when the match turned fatal. After a ball was kicked out of bounds, Mr Xhediku climbed a fence to retrieve it. When he touched a nearby


floodlight


column, he suffered a catastrophic electric shock. Despite his friends’ desperate attempts to resuscitate him, he died in the hospital the following day. A subsequent investigation by the


Health and Safety Executive (HSE) exposed a history of severe neglect. Investigators discovered the shock was caused by worn and faulty wiring


that had been left in poor condition for several years. Alarmingly, the company had ignored a direct warning just a month prior. In December 2015, police officer Simon Tam suffered an “extremely painful” shock in the exact same spot during a game with colleagues, which caused his “whole body to


tense up.” Although the police reported the


incident, Parkwood Community Leisure took no action to repair the equipment. The company pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws. At Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court, it was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £40,000 in costs. HSE inspector Dominic Goacher condemned the company’s negligence, stating that it knew the system was in poor condition yet “failed to take action to remedy the faults,” calling the case a “stark reminder” to manage the risks of ageing infrastructure. Parkwood Leisure, which stopped operating the centre in 2017, expressed its “deepest and most sincere condolences” to the family.


A West Yorkshire Police sergeant is facing the sack after pleading guilty to a violent, unprovoked assault on a taxi driver while the vehicle was moving. Sergeant Edward Howard, who works in the Bradford


area,


admitted to charges of intentional strangulation and assault during a hearing at Leeds Magistrates’ Court. The court heard that Howard had been out drinking with colleagues in Cleckheaton last November, and was put into a taxi because he was too drunk. While the vehicle was travelling “at some speed” after leaving the motorway, CCTV footage captured Howard rubbing his hands together and slapping


28


BRADFORD POLICE SERGEANT ADMITS TO PUNCHING AND STRANGLING CABBIE IN BRUTAL ATTACK his own face


before lurching


forward from the back seat. He grabbed the driver around the neck with both hands and squeezed, before punching him in the head six times. The driver, who managed to safely stop the vehicle, was physically unharmed but later stated he genuinely believed Howard “was going to kill him.” District Judge Dave Kitson con- demned the “bizarre” behaviour, noting that it could have easily caused a crash “with catastrophic results for all concerned.” Defending Howard, Tom Harris described the incident as a “brutal attack” and a “bizarre episode,” but stressed that it was “very much” a


one-off. He told the court that Howard had surrendered to police as soon as he learned what he had done, though he still has no memory of the assault. Howard was handed a 12-month community order requiring 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £400 in compensation to the driver and £199 in court costs. Sentencing him, Judge Kitson said: “I don’t know what came over you and I am sure you don’t either. It really was extreme behaviour.” Following the hearing, DCS Tanya Wilkins confirmed that internal disciplinary action will now follow and misconduct proceedings will be considered.


JULY 2026 PHTM


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