SHAME SHAME
SCARBOROUGH CABBIE ADMITS GUILT ON TWO SEX ATTACKS
A Scarborough cabbie has admitted sexually attacking two female passengers in his vehicle.
Michael Fletcher at- tacked two women last year on two separate occasions and is now awaiting sentence. The 40-year-old as- saulted his first victim in April last year, before assaulting a second woman three days later.
Fletcher was due to stand trial on the two charges of sexual assault when he appeared before York Crown Court after hav- ing previously pleaded
not guilty. However he changed his plea to guilty to both offences. Judge Kate Bucking- ham ordered Fletcher to be placed on the Sexual Offenders Reg- ister.
Fletcher was to be sen- tenced on February 25, and was remanded on conditional bail for the preparation of a pre- sentence report. During the time of the assaults Fletcher was working in Scarbor- ough as a private hire driver. Following the convic- tion the council’s head of Environmental Serv- ices, Andy Skelton,
told the Scarborough Evening News: “Michael Fletcher was arrested by police in May last year and his licence to drive a PHV was suspended by the council the following day pending the out- come of the police investigation.
“This meant Mr Fletch- er was not permitted to drive a PHV or taxi. “The protection of the public is of paramount importance to this licensing authority and we will always take immediate action when allegations of serious misconduct come to light.”
MIDDLESBROUGH TEENAGER LEFT DEVASTATED BY ALLEGED THEFT
A Teesside teenager has been left devastat- ed after his luxury mobile phone was allegedly stolen by a taxi driver.
Ryan Horkan, 16, from Middlesbrough had been out with friends in the town on Satur- day, January 15, when he flagged down a hackney carriage. But not having any money,
Ryan was
asked to give his brand new Apple iPhone to the driver as assurance that he would get the money and then pay.
On return with the money, however, Ryan
found that the driver had disappeared. Ryan told the Middles- brough Evening Gazette: “When I got home I went inside to get the money but the taxi driver said that it wasn’t enough. I then went inside again to get more but when I came out he had gone.” Ryan’s mum said: “You would think Ryan would have been safe with the taxi driver - I just can’t believe it. We thought the driver might have driven off without realising he still had the phone and would bring it back, but when he didn’t we
called the police.” A spokesman for Mid- dlesbrough Council said: “We are con- cerned by this incident and are currently work- ing with Mr Horkan and the police to assist with the investigation of this matter and to help identify the driver involved.”
Mmmm...with the greatest of respect, would you - as a pas- senger - leave your iPhone with ANY driver as collateral for a sec- ond return to the taxi? Something about wak- ing up, and smelling the coffee, springs to mind. - Ed
PAEDOPHILE CAB DRIVER WHO TOOK CAMDEN KIDS TO SCHOOL
Failings which led to a convicted paedophile abusing a schoolboy he met while driving for a Town Hall taxi service have been highlighted in a damn- ing report.
Camden Council was fined £1,000 for “inade- quate procedures” and “maladministration”, fol- lowing an investigation by the Local Govern- ment Ombudsman into arrangements which saw the driver get a job with its transport con- tractors despite 15 past convictions for offences against children.
According to the Cam- den New Journal, the
boy’s mother made a separate complaint to the Metropolitan Police, which is currently being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commis- sion (IPCC), over how the man was able to pass a CRB check. He was working for the council’s taxi service, which provides school runs for pupils with special needs, at the time of the incident. Ombudsman Jane Martin, who oversaw the investigation, said there was an element of “doubt” over whether the council could have done more
to protect the child in the report of her find- ings. But her investigation found: •Council and contrac- tor staff did not obtain references or an employment his- tory of the driver.
•Council staff were unaware of its own safeguard recruit- ment policy.
•The driver was not interviewed in line with the council’s recruitment proce- dures.
The driver, who cannot be named for legal rea- sons, is currently serving an indetermi- nate prison sentence
for separate sexual assault charges he was convicted of last year. The convictions were handed down over- seas, and, despite being known to British authorities, were over- looked during criminal record checks in 2007. He was also able to obtain a taxi licence from TfL.
Ms Martin’s report states: “I consider the council’s inadequate procedures constitut- ed maladministration. It is difficult to say whether proper proce- dures would have made a difference to events but they may
well have increased the chances of Mr Y’s history coming to light. “The complainant will always be left with some doubt that the council could have done more to protect her child. To recognise this injustice arising from the council’s fault, I recommend the council pays £1,000 in recognition of the dis- tress she endured, plus £200 in recogni- tion of her time and trouble in pursuing this complaint in doing so, she has brought important issues into the public domain.” The Town Hall says it
has made improve- ments to the way it monitors its contrac- tors.
A statement released by Camden Council said: “This is a tragic case and we would again like to express our apologies to the family and offer them our continued support.”
Mmmm...It is amazing how with some coun- cils you can get six points and your licence is suspended or revoked; in other places we have Ian Huntley characters still licensed. Isn’t it time we had some fresh Home Office guidance?! - Ed
PAGE 40
PHTM MARCH 2011
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