IN SYMPATHY
WORCESTER MAN TRAGICALLY DIES IN JUMP FROM MOVING TAXI
A dispute over a spilt bottle of beer led to a Worcester man jump- ing out of the window of a moving taxi and falling to his death. According to the Worcester Standard, Simon Ordidge, 32, was travelling home after a lads’ night out in the city centre with close friend John Tracey on Wednesday, June 9, an inquest at Worcestershire Coro- ners Court heard. The pair had been drinking heavily and each had a bottle of beer with them when they stepped into Mirza Baig’s black cab at the Broad Street taxi rank.
After a commotion in the back of the cab between the two friends the driver turned around to see some beer had been spilt on the seats and demanded they pay a £15 fine.
“I told them I would not be able to work for the rest of the night
because they had made three seats dirty,” Mr Baig told the inquest.
The pair refused to pay the fine so Mr Baig said he would take them to the police sta- tion to sort it out - something which both men agreed to because they felt the fine was unfair.
“A little bit of beer had been spilt,” Mr Tracey said. “We were being two drunk people in the back of a taxi, laughing and joking. There was no pushing and shoving, nothing physical.”
But as the taxi turned around on Northwick Road, Mr Tracey said Mr Ordidge told him they were so close to home he wanted to get out.
“He got out back- wards through the window and sat on the ledge itself,” he said. “I put my hands on his legs and asked him to get back in, but he put his feet on top and
tried to hop down. “He then disappeared out of view straight down and so I shouted to the taxi driver to stop.” Mr Tracey said he dragged his friend out of the middle of the road before para- medics arrived and found he had head injuries including a fractured skull. The father-of-two died two days later at the Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry.
Mr Baig told the inquest he did not see Mr Ordidge jump from the window and drove off.
Coroner Geraint Williams said he believed the pair had been “drunk, rowdy and badly behaved” in the taxi and Mr Ordidge’s death was as a result of a tragic accident.
Mr Baig, who is on police bail, could still face a charge of failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
SONS IN PLAQUE TRIBUTE TO CABBIE DAD WHO WAS MURDERED IN MATLOCK
hoped it would be a fit- ting tribute to one of Matlock’s memorable characters.
A plaque dedicated to murdered taxi driver Stuart Ludlam has been unveiled by his children in the centre of Matlock.
A crowd of about 50 people - including Matlock Town Mayor Steve Flitter - gathered where the popular cabbie used to pick up his customers. Father-of-three Mr Ludlam was shot dead at Cromford station by gun fanatic Colin Cheetham a year ago. To mark the anniversary of his death, Mr Lud- lam’s teenage sons, Jonathan and Matthew, installed the plaque on a bench used by taxi
TAXI DRIVER MURDER NUMBER 58 - THIS TIME IN CORK
It is an unfortunate sta- tistic to have to revise upwards, but a taxi driver has been mur- dered in Eire – and more than 50 gardai have been working on the case to discover the motive behind the murder of 62-year old Michael Healy, who was found dead in his flat in Cork on the morning of 22 Sep- tember.
Devastated colleagues at the rank at Patrick Street paid tribute to Mr Healy, who was remembered as a “gentleman who never harmed anyone”. He was originally from Grenagh, but had been living in St Luke’s for ten years. He died from head injuries, and gardai were trying to
establish whether he was killed in his flat or if was attacked else- where and later died as a result of his injuries.
Shocked driver Frank O’Flaherty described Michael Healy as a lovely man. “He cer- tainly didn’t deserve this,” he told the Cork Evening Echo. Another colleague, Pat Kelle- her, said: “He never harmed anyone.” Mr Healy’s body was found in his home by his brother,
who
became concerned when he could not make contact with him. Locals had also noticed that his taxi had not been moved from its parking spot for several days. With no apparent
NOVEMBER 2010 PHTM
motive, Superintend- ent Tom Myers said: “We are appealing to his friends and col- leagues or any regular taxi fares who may have used his car [on Wednesday 17 Sep- tember] to come to us.”
One of Mr Healy’s reg- ular passengers said: “You could not meet a nicer man. He regularly picked me up outside Dunnes Stores. He was always immacu- lately dressed.” Mr Healy had been living in the St Luke’s area for more than a decade, after separat- ing from his wife. He had two adult sons. A 38-year old man has been remanded in custody following a sitting in Cork District
Court last month. Lloyd Buckley has been charged with the murder of Michael Healy, and has been remanded in custody awaiting a further court appearance. Mmmm… Whilst it is not yet known why Mr Healy was murdered, he was still a member of the trade, and he will no doubt be sadly missed by family, friends and col- leagues. Hopefully he was not on duty when attacked, but however it happened, it doesn’t bring him back. Non- trade members cannot get over how many drivers we’ve lost. Look out for our sea- sonal ‘Be Careful Out There’ feature next month, as usual. – Ed.
customers.
It reads: “In loving memory of Stuart Lud- lam - taxi driver of Matlock. Sadly missed by all who knew him.” The brass plate was screwed on to the bench outside the Co- op supermarket in Bakewell Road as a tearful crowd watched in silence.
It was paid for by the town council after Cllr Flitter spoke with Stu- art’s mum, Sheila, about what the family could do to remember the 43-year-old cabbie. As he handed the plaque to Jonathan, 16, and Matthew, 13, Mr Flitter said he
He told the Derby Tele- graph: “It was a very sad day but the crowd that turned out was a testament to how well- loved Stuart was. “It is an honour for the town council to be asked to be a part of the remembrance and we must never forget the tragic circum- stances in which Stuart was taken from us.” As the plaque was installed, crowd mem- bers, including Stuart’s widow, Paula, and three-year-old daughter Aimee broke into applause.
Stuart’s mother, Sheila, said: “I was very proud watching Stuart’s sons put the plaque up. The turnout just showed what a popular man he was and that’s why we have had the plaque put there - so the peo- ple of Matlock will remember him.”
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