IN THE NEWS
CHANCE REUNION ALLOWS GLASGOW DRIVER TO THANK PASSENGER WHO SAVED HIS LIFE
A Glasgow taxi driver has been reunited by total coincidence with a passenger whose casual advice saved his life from aggressive prostate cancer.
During the
summer of 2024, driver Brian Kelly, 66, picked up Tam Hewitt, a 76- year-old volunteer for Prostate Cancer UK. During the journey, Mr Hewitt spoke about the importance of getting checked for the disease. Despite having no symptoms, Mr Kelly felt compelled by the chat to visit his GP and request a PSA blood test. The test led to the discovery of two cancerous sites, one of which was aggressive. Because it was caught early at
stage two, Mr Kelly underwent successful treatment in June 2025 and was back at work in a week. He credited the volunteer for his survival, but it wasn’t until December 2025 that fate brought
them together again when Mr Kelly was randomly dispatched to pick up a fare at Mr Hewitt’s house. After loading the car, the driver finally got to share his news. “I just shook his hand and said ‘by the way, I just want to thank you for saving my life’,” Mr Kelly said. The experience has transformed the driver’s own daily routine. “Anyone who gets into my car who’s over a certain age, I have the conversation with them,” Mr Kelly said. “I just throw out: ‘You’re of a certain age, have you had this PSA blood test?’” One in eight men will get prostate cancer, however, found early.
it’s curable if
“TRUSTED FRIEND” JAILED FOR DESTROYING HULL TAXI FIRM IN £670K FRAUD
A “cruel and devious” company director has been jailed for four years after stealing more than £671,000 from a Hull taxi firm to fund her secret cocaine and gambling addictions. Gemma Phoenix, 44, admitted to abusing her position at Hull Cars Ltd in a betrayal that left the company’s owner “devastated” and forced him to sell his life’s work. Phoenix had worked for the business for a decade and was so highly regarded that her boss considered it a “no brainer” to promote her to director. However, between March 2023 and August 2024, she used her control over the accounts to divert roughly £10,000 every single week into her own bank account. To avoid being caught, she gave the payments
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legitimate-look- ing names in company records. The fraud was uncovered when staff noticed their pension contributions had stopped. When the owner finally confronted her, Phoenix confessed to the theft. The financial hole she left was so deep that the owner had to remortgage his home and take out a £100,000 loan just to keep things afloat and pay his staff. Ultimately, he was forced to sell the business for half of its true value. “When I discovered what Gemma had done, I felt like my stomach had been ripped out,” the 63-year- old owner told the court. “I felt
absolutely betrayed and taken advantage of. I looked on her as a friend, not just an employee. I had so much trust in her.” He added that it was “devastating to no longer have the business that I worked so hard to build.” In court, it was revealed that Phoenix was trapped in a “spiral” of addiction. Her lawyer stated that she feels “deep shame” and “is so very, very sorry for what she did.” Despite her previously clean record and a letter of apology, the judge handed down a four-year prison sentence, noting the “shocking breach of trust” that destroyed a successful local company and ruined her friend’s livelihood. While Phoenix offered an apology in court, the damage to her former coworkers was already done.
JUNE 2026 PHTM
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