SHAME SHAME


WALTON CABBIE WHO STOLE DRUNK FARE’S PHONE & WENT ON £1,500 SPENDING SPREE JAILED


A taxi driver took advantage of a drunk passenger by stealing his mobile phone and using it to buy a wave of expensive items. Liverpool Crown Court heard that Andrew Gibson attended a concert at the O2 Academy Liverpool in December 2022. He became “very intoxicated” and the “next thing he was aware of” he was being driven home by Edward Marshman in his taxi Sarah Gruffyd, prosecuting, des- cribed how Gibson paid his £50 fare through Apple Pay after getting to his home in St Helens. However, Marshman, from Walton, “told him that the transaction had not gone through and asked him


to pass him his phone”. After Gibson handed it over, Marshman “shouted at him to get out of his taxi” and drove off. The victim awoke the next morning, realising what had happened to him. Meanwhile, the thief used the phone to make 13 separate fraudulent transactions, equating to £1,568. However, the taxi fair was paid into an account that was under Marshman's name and the 49-year-old was caught on CCTV purchasing the goods.


Police attended his home on February 10 last year, where they found trainers TVs, and blend-ers purchased through the phone alongside two bags of cannabis and some cocaine.


Marshman has 15 previous convictions for 33 offences, including drink and drug driving. Marshman admitted to fraud, theft, possession of cannabis, and possession of cocaine. Jailing him for 58 weeks, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: “You quite dishonestly took advantage of the vulnerable condition of your fare and abused your position of responsibility. This was a despicable series of offences.”


TWO YEARS’ JAIL FOR CARDIFF CABBIE WHO SEXUALLY ASSAULTED CRYING PASSENGER


A taxi driver sexually assaulted an intoxicated woman travelling in his vehicle and continued attacking her after she started crying. Bahaaelden Ibrahim, 44, sexually assaulted the victim in Cardiff in November 2021, after she had been out in the city centre watching a Wales rugby international. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on 18 April, heard the victim arranged to get a taxi to her boyfriend’s home and she was picked up by the defendant. Ibrahim was driving when he grabbed the victim’s hand and forced it onto his penis and made her masturbate him.


She became upset and began crying hysterically. The defendant told her to stop crying and she got


PHTM MAY 2024


out of the car. The victim reported the matter to the police and Ibrahim was arrested. He denied the offences and claimed he had been assaulted by the victim. Ibrahim, from Cardiff, was found guilty of sexual assault following a trial at Swansea Crown Court. The court heard he had one previous conviction for obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception. The victim said she no longer feels comfortable getting in taxis, no longer likes being on her own, and is no longer the social and outgoing person she once was. In mitigation Susan Ferrier said her


client had worked as a taxi driver for many years and had never been accused of an incident like this previously. She said the defendant still maintained his innocence but accepted the verdict of the jury. She said Ibrahim was married with three children and was also supporting family in Sudan. Sentencing, Recorder Caroline Rees KC said: “As a taxi driver entrusted with getting a woman home safe that night, this breach of that trust can only be met by an immediate custodial sentence.” Ibrahim was sentenced to a total of two years imprisonment. He was also made subject to a restraining order for five years and sex offender notification require- ments for 10 years.


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