Councillors in Knowsley have told cab drivers to "go back to the drawing board" amid a row over whether or not to raise hackney fares in the borough.
The borough’s licensing committee met on August 24 to discuss a proposal to raise fares in line with Liverpool city levels. During the meeting, licensing officer Brian Toolin said that normally there’s quite a consensus among the trade about fares.
However, while 100 signatories signed a petition in favour of the plans, the proposal has also attracted objections from other drivers within the borough’s hackney trade who said such a rise would be “nothing short of exploitation” for residents of Knowsley, a borough among the most deprived in the UK.
At the meeting, Mr Toolin said after it was clear that there wasn’t a broad consensus, the council carried out its own consultation, sending text messages to all drivers in the borough with the outcome being that 54% of drivers stated they agreed to the fare rise.
Mr Toolin said: “Because we were conscious there was still no agreement we did ask if they could resolve it between them.”
He said an alternative proposal was put forward but the “majority wanted the initial rise.”
Mr Toolin said the proposed increase would be between 12 and 17% with an additional new peak tariff to “bring it in line with the city region.”
He said in Knowsley “most journeys are local journeys, people doing shopping and the like” and the rise would bring around 70p on a two-mile journey.
Cab driver Charlie Hodson, who had put forward the proposal to increase fares to Liverpool city levels, told the committee the general consensus among drivers was in favour of a rise.
He said more than 50 drivers have left over the last four years – either into private hire, the city or leaving the trade altogether. Mr Hodson said the situation could lead to there being no hackneys in Knowsley in 10 to 15 years' time, adding that for many “it is not an option” to jump into a private hire.
He said drivers in the borough won’t work at night because the rate is the same as the day rate with “private hire just mopping that all up” but said this impacted on people with disabilities going for nights out.
He added that even if the increase was implemented, hackneys would still be cheaper than the borough’s main private hire operator.
Speaking against the proposal, Tony Carr from the Liverpool City Region Hackney Drivers Cooperative said: “Some people might say well it’s an increase in fares it doesn’t really matter. It matters a lot, not only to to us as drivers but the people we serve” with the cost of living crisis “ongoing.”
Mr Carr said there was a “major problem with cherrypicking” fares in Liverpool that doesn’t exist in Knowsley.
He said: “To introduce something to address that issue in Knowsley would be wrong, it would be penalising residents for something that’s happening in the city.”
Mr Carr said raising the rates would lead to a “reduction in clientele” and a reduction in footfall in the borough’s town centres. He said it could also lead to more expensive home to school transport bills for the council.
Referring to claims made by Mr Hodson that low rates were causing drivers to leave the trade, Mr Carr also said that many drivers could earn ”a good living” as a a cab driver and that was not the cause of the decline in drivers.
Cllr Terry Byron said the committee was left with a “dilemma” and if rises were implemented it could lead to two rates in operation in the borough which would bring “conflict.”
He added: “My underlying emotion is to look for a compromise that was conducive to all sides.”
Councillors agreed to give drivers a month to try to find a solution before a further meeting of the licensing committee.
Source: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/cabbies-told-go-back-drawing-27594892
An intoxicated man launched a "cowardly" attack upon a taxi driver and punched him in the head from behind while he was driving.
WalesOnline reports that he and a woman kicked and stamped on the driver after he was taken to the floor.
John Watson, 29, had been drinking in Bridgend town centre on November 17 last year having acted as a pallbearer at his best friend's funeral earlier that day.
As a result of his drinking, he acted aggressively towards taxi driver Steven Williams, who picked him up outside a pub with two women and a another man, and drove him towards Wildmill.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court in August heard the taxi entered Quarella Road when Watson got out of the vehicle and slammed the door. Mr Williams also got out of the taxi and asked the defendant why he slammed the door, telling him the taxi was his "livelihood".
Prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins said Watson immediately took a "fighting stance" and told the victim he would "knock his f****** head off".
He swung at Mr Williams who managed to avoid three punches but was hit by one of the women, who had got out of the taxi.
He fell to the floor and Watson joined the woman in kicking, stamping and punching the victim as he fell on the floor. The defendant kicked Mr Williams in his face, head and ribs as he was curled up in a ball.
"The other man in the taxi shouted "Stop, he's had enough".
At this point, Mr Williams went to get back into his taxi but the defendant walked ahead of him and got into the vehicle. The victim was worried about getting into the taxi alone with Watson but made a decision to drive to the nearest police station.
On the route, he began repeatedly punching Mr Williams in the back of head from the rear seat as the victim was driving before putting his fingers in his eyes, mouth and nose and pulling back hard. He also grabbed hold of the driver's jumper and pulled backwards, leaving Mr Williams unable to breathe.
As he drove past the pub where he picked Watson up from, he sounded his horn in attempt to get help.
When the taxi stopped outside the police station, Mr Williams and Watson got out of the car and, worried he would be assaulted again, the victim took the defendant to the floor and placed him in a chokehold while calling for help. By the time police arrived, Watson had got back into the taxi and had fallen asleep.
He was woken up and arrested, telling police he had drunk a large amount of alcohol and could not remember parts of the evening. As a result of the assaults, Mr Williams suffered bruising, swelling and cuts to his face.
Watson, of Gwaun Brant, Pontycymer, later pleaded guilty to assault by beating. The court heard he had six previous convictions, the last of which was a public order offence in 2016.
Sentencing, Recorder Ben Blakemore said: "Your victim was a taxi driver just doing their job, a job the community relies on to keep functioning. He was unfortunate to pick you up as a fare. This was a cowardly act."
Watson was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment suspended for two years. He was made subject to an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement for 120 days, to undergo sessions of a "Thinking Skills" programme and a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
Source: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/intoxicated-man-punched-taxi-driver-27601816
A Bristol private hire driver has been left frustrated and angry after trying to claim back an overcharged amount at the exit barrier of the Bristol Airport drop-off zone.
BristolLive reports that Joey Balcar said the incident happened on Saturday, July 15, when he dropped a client off and that after discovering how much he had been charged, he logged a claim for a refund with the airport on the same day.
Having been to his bank to get a copy of his transactions from that day, it showed two payments had been deducted at the same time.
Mr Balcar said: “When I was leaving the drop and go, they charged me twice at the barrier at the same time.
“I'm assuming that the first payment was to let me out of the car park and the second payment logged me back into the airport system. When I came back three hours later, time was still counting and that was the reason I was charged £80,”
He said deducting the £5 normal fee, the overcharged amount was £75. Mr Balcar filled in an online complaint form with the airport on the same day, which stated he would get a response within 15 working days.
Now almost six weeks later, he has still been trying to follow up on his claim. He said: “It’s mission impossible to get through on their phone lines.
“Why is it taking so long, it's our money and our earnings. It’s the principle,” he said, adding that on some days, he can go to the airport up to six times a day.
He confirmed that he had spoken to Bristol Airport on Monday, August 21 and was promised the matter would be ‘dealt with immediately’, but has heard nothing since.
A spokesperson for Bristol Airport said: “‘We received the customer’s initial email and responded within two days (July 17), asking for more information.
"We have not received any further contact from the customer.
“We would advise the customer to contact us again so we can investigate and resolve his complaint,” said the spokesperson.
Source: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/taxi-driver-bristol-airport-fuming-8704765
A black cab driver who exposed himself to a lone female fare has been banned from working as a taxi or private hire driver for five years.
According to the Oxford Mail, Zaffran Amjad, 28, had asked to use the toilet at the woman’s home after dropping her off in his hackney cab on July 1 last year.
As he came out of the lavatory, he still had his flies undone and his genitals were exposed. Amjad told the woman: “You want this, right?”
Prosecuting, Ann Sawyer-Brandish told Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 23 August: “Straightaway she knew what he was doing. She was terrified because he was in her house. She had allowed him in her house and she couldn’t go anywhere.”
She said he needed to leave, the court heard. The taxi driver ‘did not become aggressive and did not say anything’, but rearranged himself and left.
“She called a friend immediately, describing how it was the worst experience,” the prosecutor said. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was advised to call the police, which she did.
In an impact statement read to the magistrates, the victim said she had had to move house after the incident as she no longer felt safe in the property where it happened.
She said: “Before this incident, I was a very independent person. The idea of even going out in Oxford on a night out now scares me. I very rarely go out on my own. I can’t think of anything worse than getting a taxi.”
The woman added: “No one should be made to feel this way; especially not in their own home.”
Amjad was identified as the driver of the taxi and, following a trial last month, was convicted by the magistrates of a single charge of indecent exposure. He was previously of good character, with no convictions on his record.
Mitigating, advocate Balaal Khan said his client was married with one child and another on the way. He was the family’s main breadwinner.
Since the incident he had been unable to work as a taxi driver and, although working two jobs, the family had suffered a significant hit to their income.
He was a carer for his mother and was well-spoken of in a number of character references provided to the court, it was said.
Mr Khan said Amjad ‘wishes to express remorse’ to the victim.
The magistrates imposed 16 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for two years. A sexual harm prevention order prevents him from being employed as a taxi or private hire driver or making unwanted sexual advances to women for five years.
Chairman of the bench Dr Bob Mahoney said: “This is a nasty offence. The impact on the victim [from the statement] that was read out by the prosecutor is quite distressing and, clearly, quite profound.”
As a consequence of the suspended prison sentence, Amjad, from Oxford, will be on the sex offender register for seven years.
He was ordered to pay £300 in compensation and £654 in costs and surcharge.
Source: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23743739.oxford-black-cab-driver-exposed-female-customer/
A motorist who claimed to be a taxi driver told police he had no knowledge of the £180,000 that officers found in the boot of his car.
The News and Star reports that Carlisle’s Rickergate Magistrates’ Court heard that the man was stopped as he drove southwards on the M6 in north Cumbria shortly before 6pm on August 22.
The defendant was the car's sole occupant.
When the officers searched the car due to suspicions around potential drugs offences, they looked in the boot and found and estimated £180,000, mostly in Scottish bank notes.
The detective who applied for temporary detention of the cash said the driver provided police with a prepared statement, in which he denied having any knowledge of the cash. At the time he was stopped, claimed the man, he had been returning from a regular taxi journey after dropping off a customer.
The man, in his late 40s and from the Blackburn area, did not turn up for the brief hearing, which police used to make an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act, asking Deputy District Judge Andrew Garthwaite for permission to continue holding the case for six months.
This was so that police can continue to investigate its possible source. The detective in court said that the enquiries would include checking with the driver’s local authority area to confirm that he is registered as a taxi driver.
The investigation would look at whether there was any evidence of money laundering, she said.
The Deputy District Judge said he was satisfied that there were reasonable grounds for suspecting that the money was “recoverable” under Proceeds of Crime legislation. The application was not opposed.
The ruling is the latest in a long line of such applications to come before Cumbria's courts, collectively involving hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Many such cases are concluded with successful police applications to permanently seize the cash, which is ploughed back into the county's fight against crime.
Much of the money recovered was being transported along the M6, a recognised and popular route for the transportation of drugs and criminal cash between towns and cities in the North West and Scotland.
Source: https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/23747503.police-found-180k-cash-boot-taxi-drivers-car-stopped-m6/
A local councillor has sparked a debate on passenger safety after claiming that using locally licensed taxis is safer than hailing an Uber.
A taxi driver was attacked and subjected to racist abuse after two brothers refused to pay him up front.
Christopher Hilling, 64, admitted to engaging a child in sexual activity at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 8 August.
Abdigani Ebrahim, 38, of Grangetown, admitted charges of affray and criminal damage following the incident in Northcote Street, Roath, last July.
The crackdown targeted drivers operating across council boundaries to ensure public safety and compliance with regulations.
Lucio Valentino relies on his six-year-old Border Collie, Pixel, to help manage his mental health conditions, including depression and personality disorders.
Taxi drivers across the Fylde Coast are set to receive a briefing note aimed at clearing up confusion over out-of-area private hire vehicles.
Police are appealing to find a taxi driver who may have "vital clues" about the murder of Ryan Passey seven years ago since he was fatally stabbed in a Stourbridge nightclub.
A joint operation by Hull City Council, Wolverhampton Council, and Humberside Police has uncovered a number of safety issues with taxis operating in the city.
French taxi drivers are calling for government compensation after suffering significant revenue losses during the Paris Olympics.
Coventry city centre has introduced a new taxi marshal service aimed at improving safety and efficiency for late-night revellers.
A court heard harrowing details of the moment a drink-driving uninsured motorist killed three people in a 90mph crash.
The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans was amongst the thousands who enjoyed the Battle Proms at Highclere Castle on 3 August.
Swindon residents could be facing a hike in taxi fares from October after councillors gave the green light to a £1 increase in the standard fare minimum charge.
Ricky Harold, a 20-year veteran of the town’s taxi trade, was parked in a lay-by when his vehicle was struck from behind by a black Audi A2.
Chinese automotive giant Geely has deepened its commitment to the UK electric vehicle market with a £120m cash injection into London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC).
North Tyneside Council is facing a backlash over plans to increase taxi fares by 6.3%.
Nazim Asmal preyed on his victims after nights out in Preston and Darwen, driving them to secluded spots before carrying out horrific sexual assaults.
Newcastle is set to see a surge in pink taxis driven by women as part of a new initiative aimed at improving passenger safety.
An unlicensed taxi driver who picked up two vulnerable women in Aberdare has been ordered to pay nearly £1,500 in fines and costs.