IN THE NEWS
POLICE STORM WRONG HOUSE IN OLDHAM AND ARREST WRONG MAN - A CABBIE - AT GUNPOINT
Armed police hunting a man in connec- tion with a shooting stormed a house in Oldham only to arrest the wrong person with the same surname as the suspect. According to the Daily Mail, West York- shire Police officers who were searching for Kashif Hussain, 43, in relation to a firearms incident in Bradford last month, stormed the family home of Shazad Hussain, and arrested both him and his brother at gunpoint. Mr Hussain, 39, was at home on the evening of February 9, when he spotted armed police outside his front window. When he opened his front door he was confronted by the barrel of a machine gun, and an officer who immediately bellowed ‘get down on the floor’. Dramatic eyewitness video shows an
officer pointing a gun through Mr Hussain’s open front door before the bloodied and shaken taxi driver is led bare foot into the street from his house. He is then seen with a wound on his left brow, blood pouring into his eye and running down his cheek and also a gash on his knee. Mr Hussain and his brother, Sharaz Hussain, 36, who arrived at the scene after hearing a commotion when his brother accidentally dialled his phone during the arrest, were both hand- cuffed during the dramatic raid.
Sharaz said one of the officers asked his pregnant wife if she knew Kashif, before checking Sharaz’s identification. Sharaz was taken to Ashton-under- Lyne police station, where his photograph was taken and he was put in a cell. He and his brother were released together at around 11:30pm. ‘The sergeant just said: “You’re not being charged, we’re sorry, you’re free to go,” Sharaz said. Shazad, also a taxi driver, said: “Some- one has seen [the police appeal] and told the police it was my brother. “It was totally wrong. My brother didn’t resist arrest. I was traumatised, hand- cuffed and humiliated.” The pair have demanded an apology from the force.
GLASGOW TAXI DRIVERS LEFT WAITING A YEAR FOR UPDATED LICENCE BY SNP COUNCIL
Taxi drivers have hit out at Glasgow City Council with some left waiting over A YEAR for updated licensing badges. According to the Scottish Daily Express, some cab owners have even paid over £150 for their new licence but have still been left in limbo. Drivers are required to renew their taxi licence every three years through the council website, but some drivers feel they are being neglected by the council, due to the lack of communication and slow rollout of drivers badges. They are able to contact the council for just six hours every week to try and discuss the situation. George Mullen, taxi owner and driver for Glasgow Taxis, told the Scottish Daily Express he paid £162 for his licence but has still not received it. He explained: “I applied for my taxi licence and my operator’s licence last February. Since then I’ve only received my operator’s licence, and I only got
MARCH 2022
that about two weeks ago. I’ve still not received my updated taxi drivers licence, which means I’m running about with a badge here that says February 2021, that’s how bad the council is. “The council has a massive backlog of getting badges out. At the minute, as long as I have my payment receipt they’re happy.” When asked if he thinks the pandemic has caused the issues, he said: “It’s taken it to a whole different level. People are buying new taxis and having to stand and wait outside the test centre, wondering if they can get a cancella- tion or a space to get their new cars in. “Taxi drivers haven’t been able to talk to someone over the phone or over a desk for over a year or even more. “I think in terms of the people who are handling this, working from home has made it worse, as you can’t get inside the office door. If you’re going in to hand in an application, you have to
hand it into the front door, to a security guard, you can’t get into the place.” Mr Mullen added: “The council is leaving drivers behind, they’re leaving you with- out a licence and working off a receipt.” Other drivers took to social media to express their frustration at Glasgow City Council. One said: “Received my badge last week after waiting 16 months. No email, who do I contact please?” Another added: “I didn’t receive an email so I contacted business support and they have told me my badge has expired. I have proof of payment and I’ve been fully insured and own a taxi. Hopefully, they get it sorted.” It comes weeks after taxi drivers in Glasgow protested at a lack of govern- ment support. A spokesman for the council said: “It is expected that timescales for process- ing applications and issuing formal licence documents will return to normal in the coming weeks.”
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