108 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
MAY 2009 JUST...
EIGHT MONTHS FOR DRINKER WHO FORCED TAXI INTO HANDBRAKE TURN
A Cwmbran man was jailed after grabbing the steering wheel of a taxi travelling at around 60mph, causing it to smash into a tree. Michael Brown, 31, and a friend had been drink- ing heavily prior to the crash. Brown had drunk a bottle of wine, Cardiff Crown Court was told. According to the South Wales Argus, Brown pleaded guilty to crimi- nal damage, being reckless as to whether human life was endan- gered, relating to the smash on September 13 last year. The court heard the pair decided to go club- bing in Newport and ordered a taxi. As they were travelling, Brown, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, pulled up the hand- brake and yanked the
steering wheel. This caused the car to spin across the oppo- site side of the road, slamming into a tree and writing off
the
£10,000 taxi. The driver. David Sheppard, was left with bruising to his face following the crash. Defending, Stephen Thomas said Brown regretted his actions, and had he realised the speed at which they were travelling, would not have done it. Mr Thomas said Brown decided to pull the wheel because he no longer wanted to go to Newport and despite numerous requests, the driver didn’t stop. Sentencing Brown to eight months, Recorder of Cardiff Nicholas Cooke said: “This was an extremely danger- ous act. It’s only by the
grace of God that you or others in the taxi did- n’t lose their lives.” Brown was also dis- qualified from driving for 18 months. David Sheppard, 38, of Greenmeadow, speak- ing after the trial, said: “He could have killed me easily. He’s got to realise that you can’t go ripping people’s lives apart and have a laugh about it afterwards. “I still avoid working nights because I don’t want to be in that situa- tion again.” The father of five, a driver with Tiger Taxis for six years, said he had to buy a new car following the crash and it left him and his wife, who drove the taxi dur- ing the day, without a working car and it cost him around £6,000 after insurance.
COMMUNITY SENTENCE FOR BIKER WHO THREATENED DRIVERS WITH HAMMER
A drunkenmotorcycling fan menaced two taxi drivers with a hammer. The Blackpool Gazette reports that Ian Fergu- son, a 48-year-old care worker, of Bispham, admitted threatening behaviour and pos- sessing an offensive weapon. He was sentenced to do 200 hours’ unpaid work for the community
and pay £75 compen- sation plus £80 costs by Blackpool magis- trates. Martine Connah, prose- cuting, said the defen- dant got into Edward Carley’s cab on March 12 at 1am and asked to be taken home. During the journey Fer- guson told the driver to get out of
the cab because he was going
to smash him up and kick his head in. When Ferguson got out of the taxi the driver pushed his emergency button and colleague Martin Raby drove up. Ferguson
came
towards them both with a raised hammer. Mr Raby grabbed his arm and tripped him up and Mr Carley grabbed the hammer.
FOUR YEARS FOR ROBBER WHOSE KNIFE WAS BROKEN BY PRESTON DRIVER
A taxi driver who snapped a would-be robber’s knife in half in self-defence revealed: “I don’t think I would have been here if I had- n’t.” Dad-of-five Mohammed Sultan, 48, relived the terrifying moment after Joseph St Jean, 19, from Preston, was jailed for four years. The cabbie said his children were all he could think about as the struggling robber slashed his hand. Mr Sultan, who worked for New City Taxis at the time of the incident,
went to a pick-up in November last year. When he got there he was approached by St Jean and threatened with a knife. He said: “I have never been so scared in my life because the blade was at least 10ins long. I told him three or four times to put it down. But he said he was not going anywhere. He wanted my money. “He tried to stab me three times and I don’t think I would have been here if I hadn’t grabbed the knife.” Afterwards, the robber
ran off empty handed. Paul Entwistle, of New City Taxis, said: “Jus- tice has been done and it shows people who target taxi drivers that they won’t get away with it.” Det Insp Marc Nasser, of Leyland CID, told the
Lancashire
Evening Post: “This sends out a clear mes- sage
to other
offenders that police will investigate these crimes rigorously.” St Jean pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon.
FOUR YEARS FOR THUG WHO ROBBED STUDENT AND ATTACKED DRIVER
A 21-year-old who held up two people with a knife has been jailed for four years. According to the Wem- bley Observer, Stephen Heaviside, of Harrow Weald, led two others in carrying out the attacks in December last year. Heaviside was sen- tenced at Harrow Crown Court, having admitted charges of robbery, attempted rob- bery and possession of a bladed article. One of his accomplices, a 16-year-old girl, plead- ed guilty to robbery. Prosecutor Katherine Hirst told the court that Heaviside
had
approached the first vic- tim, a student, at 2.30am in Harrow. Ms Hirst said: “Mr Heav- iside held a knife in the sleeve of his jacket and
demanded the victim hand over his mobile phone, which he did.” The third accomplice took the student’s wal- let
then Heaviside
needlessly punched the victim as they left. Forty-five minutes later, a minicab driver, Mr Hussein, collected the three from Harrow Weald, but was told to pull over when they reached Stonegrove in Edgware. Ms Hirst said: “The front seat passenger produced a knife and demanded that Mr Hus- sein got out of his own car leaving the keys. “He was assaulted by the rear seat passen- ger. He did get out but took the keys with him.” Heaviside and the sec- ond man
were apprehended by police
officers who heard the commotion while the minicab driver restrained the 16-year-old girl with her own scarf. The second man was back in court on March 27 to face charges of robbery and attempted robbery. Ms Hirst said of Heavi- side: “He was the one who carried out the majority of the violence.” Jailing Heaviside and handing the teenage girl a 12-month supervi- sion order with a six-month electronical- ly-monitored curfew, Judge Graham Arran said the number of assailants, the fact that the offences were com- mitted at night,
the
vulnerability of the vic- tims and the violence shown were aggravat- ing factors.
EIGHT YEARS FOR PAIR WHO ATTACKED NORWICH DRIVER
Two men who carried out a “despicable” attack on a Norwich taxi driver have been sen- tenced to a total of eight years in jail. The driver, Atilla Savari, was so badly hurt by the attack on Septem- ber 30 last year he has been unable to work since, Norwich Crown Court heard. According to the Nor- wich Evening News, the hearing heard how Sebastian Barrows, 27, and Luke Ferret, 24, got into Mr Savari’s taxi and
asked to go to a nearby block of flats. They got out without paying the £6 fare but told the driv- er they would return with cash. Mr Savari did not believe them and got out of the taxi and followed them. There was a fracas and the two men pushed the driver to the floor and punched and kicked him. They stole £90 from his jacket, £60 of previous fares and his car keys, before driving off in the taxi. Barrows and Ferret
were later stopped by police. Barrows was sen- tenced to four and a half years in prison, of which he has already served 180 days, and Ferret three and a half years, having already served 138 days. Summing up, Judge Peter Jacobs, said: “This man has lost his livelihood because of your actions. The emo- tional effect is probably far greater than the physical effect he suf- fered.”
FOUR YEARS FOR BATH TEENAGERS LOCKED UP AFTER TAXI ARSON
Two teenagers from Bath were jailed for a total of seven-and-a- half years by Bristol Crown Court after torching a taxi office with four people inside it.
According to the West- ern Daily Press police said it was a “miracle” the women working inside the Abbey Taxis base at South Parade escaped with their lives after
result of the drug-fuelled incident that is estimat- ed to have caused about £90,000 of damage to the taxi rank that had been refurbished at a cost of £60,000 two years earlier. Benjamin Handley, 19, from Weston and a 15- year-old accomplice walked into the taxi office during a busy Saturday
the attack in
August last year. Flames were seen to shoot into the air as a
evening
before pouring petrol on the floor of the build- ing and tossing a lighter on to the fuel. The duo, who had both
been taking “danger- ously high levels” of illegal drugs, carried out the attack in a mis- placed act of revenge after allegedly being struck by a taxi that they believed to have been part of the Abbey Taxis’ fleet earlier in the day. Handley was sen- tenced to four years in a young offenders insti- tution while
his
co-defendant received three and a half years in a young offenders insti- tute for his part in the incident.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140
