IN THE NEWS
CRAWLEY COUNCIL SUPPORTS ‘NO EXCUSE FOR ABUSE’ CAMPAIGN
HASTINGS FESTIVAL TO BECOME FREE OF SINGLE-USE PLASTIC CUPS
Hastings Fat Tues- day
festival is
Crawley Borough Council is supporting PHTM and NPHTA to raise
about abuse towards taxi drivers. The council has offered all Crawley drivers ‘No Excuse for Abuse’ stickers to encourage pas- sengers to treat
awareness
drivers with respect. The stickers, sup- plied by PHTM, have been taken up by many other councils eager to reinforce the message that abuse of
their
drivers will not be tolerated and will be reported to the police.
Cabinet member Cllr Geraint Thomas, told CN24: “These stick- ers are a great idea. The vast majority of taxi users are well- behaved, but a few feel it is acceptable to be abusive. It’s important that peo- ple know that this will not be tolerated.”
TEESSIDE TAXI AND PH DRIVERS FACE DAILY RACIST ATTACKS
Hate crimes against Teesside taxi drivers are now a “daily occurrence”, a meet- ing has heard. Stockton Councillor Steve Nelson said hate crime was ris- ing and Brexit had “let the racist genie out of the bottle” at a recent cabinet meeting. Strong views came on the back of the authority’s long run- ning review of hate crime which has heard how recorded cases have more than doubled in the borough between 2014 and 2018 - from 115 to 268. Cllr Nelson warned the reported figures were “just the tip of
34
the iceberg”. The member
for
community safety added: “I’ve certain- ly spoken to many individuals and bod- ies and it’s clear how widespread
the
problem is. “I chair the Taxi Trade Association meeting and we work closely with that group to make it easier to report it - they are on board and are much more keen to report hate crime.” The year-long probe has seen evidence from a raft of chari- ties and organisat- ions shine a light on levels of hate crime in the borough. Two out of every
three victims of hate crime are male - with one in six of all victims aged 17 and under. Cllr David Wilburn said Stockton’s hate crime levels were “below average” when compared to the rest of Cleveland
the police
force area. And he told leaders that members of the taxi trade were now part of the Stockton Hate Crime group which tried to monitor the problem. Cllr Wilburn added: “80% of hate crime is to do with race - I would suspect in this town the taxi trade would be in receipt of a lot of that.”
making a commit- ment to become free of single-use plastic cups. The event has joined forces with 247 Taxis and Plastic Free Hastings to reduce the amount of sin- gle-use plastic used at this year’s festival. 247 Taxis are fea- tured in The Way I See It this month, and Stewart Smith, Business Develop- ment Manager, told the Hastings Obser- ver: “247 is delight- ed to be working with the Fat Tues- day team bringing a vision of reusable plastic glasses to a major event in Hast-
ings. While we are looking at this year as a trial, we would hope that between ourselves and other local companies we can build on the foundations
many years and pro- mote events
for in
Hastings as the leaders in reducing event plastic waste.” Hastings Fat Tues- day organisers have designed a cool, col- lectable and re- usable cup to com- memorate its tenth anniversary,
in an
effort to reduce its negative environ- mental impact. The cups can be pur- chased from all the participating bars at £2 per cup. This cup
can then be used in all bars as guests tour around watch- ing all the free music around town. Once the festival is over, the cups can be taken home and used again at other events or in general, day-to-day life. In addition to the re- usable cups, all the participating pubs will be using com- postable
plastic
cups as back-up. As there is not an indus- trial compost site in the South East, the compostable cups will be incinerated – but
they won’t
release a noxious gas as other plastics do, according to the event’s organisers.
MANCHESTER DRIVER ATTACKED AND PASSENGER TRIED TO STEAL CAR
A drunk passenger in a taxi grabbed the handbrake before attacking the driver and trying to steal his car, a court heard. According to the Manchester Evening News, Benjamin Tay- lor, 28, said to be ‘incredibly drunk’ at the time, has now been jailed for two years after being found guilty follow- ing a trial. Taylor, from Manch- ester, had been out drinking in the city centre when the driver picked him up. He sat in the back and asked to be taken to an address in Newton Heath, just after midnight on August 17, 2017.
The driver put the destination into his sat-nav, and Taylor also helped to direct him. Suddenly
Taylor
pulled at the hand- brake and punched the driver to the back of his head and shoulder. The car came to a halt at an angle in the entrance to a factory. Taylor then got out of the car, dragged the driver out and punched him. He demanded the driver to hand over the keys to the car. But the taxi driver began to shout for help, and was wav- ing his arms in desperation. Luckily a police car
was driving by at the time and pulled over. Officers detained Taylor, and they described him as being
‘incredibly
drunk’. Taylor later denied trying to rob the taxi driver. Taylor, who has pre- vious convictions for being drunk in pub- lic, racially aggrav- ated
harassment
and assault, was convicted by a jury of attempted rob- bery. Sentencing, Judge David Hernandez told Taylor: “Lone taxi drivers working at night have to be protected. There must be an immediate custodial sentence.”
MARCH 2019
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