A teenager has been arrested after police allegedly found nearly £40,000 of drugs and £9,000 in cash when he was travelling in a tprivate hire car.
According to AberdeenLive, officers pulled over the private hire car on Friday, April 28 on Gort Road in the Tillydrone area of the city.
Police Scotland claim that a 19-year-old man's backpack was then searched and a huge haul of class A drugs and cash were discovered.
He has been charged in connection with the find and appeared in court on Monday, 1 May.
A statement from north-east division reads: "Officers in Aberdeen have arrested a 19-year-old man for drugs offences.
"On Friday, 28 April, officers from the Organised Crime Unit, stopped a taxi in Gort Road.
"The male passenger’s rucksack was searched and a quantity of Class A drugs and cash were recovered. The drugs have a potential street value of approximately £39,000. Around £9,000 was also seized.
"A 19-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with the recovery. He is due to appear at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Monday, 1 May, 2023."
Source: https://www.aberdeenlive.news/news/aberdeen-news/teenager-charged-after-40k-class-8402222
Highly controversial changes to the taxi trade were debated again at Bolton town hall this week.
According to The Bolton News, the Minimum Standards Licensing scheme is set to come into effect across all of Greater Manchester by the end of the decade.
But in Bolton the proposal has been called in for further scrutiny after some of the borough’s drivers raised fears that their livelihoods could be impacted.
Cllr Paul Heslop, of One Kearsley, said: “This is a classic case, as with the Clean Air Zone, of not listening to the people and to the people it is going to affect.
“And when the people sometimes give the politicians a bloody nose its welcome because we need to listen to the people.”
He added: “It is a mess in Greater Manchester, and we will be sending a very clear message that we don’t want anything to do with it.”
The MLS scheme was agreed on collectively by the city region’s ten councils in 2018 and was designed to bring in a set of common standards for the 11,500 private hire vehicles across Greater Manchester.
Taxis will also be required to comply with European standards when first licensed, aiming for a zero-carbon emission fleet, by the same date, while they will also be marked with a common livery.
But one of the most contentious aspects of this has been requirements that vehicles would have to be less than five years old on first registration and have been on the road for less than ten years to avoid a charge.
Bolton Council has since won concessions, including that there be no maximum age for vehicles already “on to fleet” and that common liveries will not need to include Greater Manchester logo stickers.
But continuing objections over vehicle age standards in particular led opposition councillors to call the decision in for further scrutiny at a Bolton Council cabinet meeting at the end of April. This has now been discussed further at the authority’s place scrutiny committee.
Labour's Cllr Mohammed Ayub said: “This is a matter of the livelihood of drivers and the safety of the public, so this needs to be sorted.”
But the council’s leadership has long made the point that they have already won concessions from Greater Manchester and have warned that not signing up to the scheme could entail a loss of funding.
Speaking at the place scrutiny committee meeting, Conservative deputy leader Cllr Hilary Fairclough pointed out that the policy had originally been a Labour policy.
She said that since the Conservative Party came to office in Bolton, her party had tried to work with the opposition and with the taxi trade to try and agree on the best way forward.
She said: “It originally started in 2018 when a Labour Mayor wanted to have minimum standards and the ten then Labour authorities.”
She added: “We went out and we got what we believed was the best deal for Bolton, no one else got the same.”
The decision will now be referred back to Bolton Council’s cabinet.
Source: https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/23482961.bolton-mls-taxi-scheme-scrutinised-council-meeting/
A taxi owner was forced to spend almost £4,000 after problems arose with a diesel emission filter that is becoming a real issue for the taxi industry.
The Daily Record reports that two hearings over suspension of taxi vehicle licences were heard at South Ayrshire Council's Regulatory Panel on Thursday 27 April.
South Ayrshire taxi owners Graham Campbell and David Kerr had seen vehicles fail emissions tests which were eventually narrowed down to issues with equipment designed to capture harmful particles.
The Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) - sometimes known as 'soot traps', captures the larger particles from diesel emissions. However, the filters have a finite capacity and must either be 'burned off' through a process called regeneration or eventually replaced.
Regeneration generally happens on longer, higher speed journeys on trunk roads and motorways.
However, the shorter, lower speed journeys undertaken by taxis, mean that the temperature needed to regenerate is not met and increases the likelihood that they will get clogged with soot.
Graham Campbell had one of his Citadel Taxi vehicle's fail on emissions.
He was represented by Tom Getgood, of South Ayrshire Taxi Owners Association.
Mr Getgood explained that the taxi had successfully passed a pre test for emissions and said that the problem arose during council's taxi inspection.
Mr Campbell had cleaned and carried out a 'regeneration' of the diesel filter. However, despite passing the pre test, the vehicle produced excess smoke on being revved during the inspection.
A new DPF costing £900 plus fitting, sorted the problem.
Mr Getgood said: "This was an intermittent fault and was unforeseeable. He takes great pride in his fleet of taxis and has nine people in employment."
Council fleet inspector Matt Wright accepted the explanation, saying that an 'intermittent fault' is hard to find as it can appear and disappear.
The second hearing also came down to the impact of DPFs in taxis.
One of David Kerr's vehicles had been refused over exhaust emissions. Having been advised to replace the injectors, he found that the engine had began to make 'knocking' noises.
A mechanic recommended a new engine, but after this was installed and the car was deemed to be running well, it failed on emissions a second time.
Only once the DPF was finally replaced did the vehicle get the all clear.
Mr Getgood also represented Mr Kerr. He told the panel that the car had been presented for a pre-test at Arnold Clark and had passed.
Mr Getgood explained: "The next day, there was a change in the revs. The engine was basically running away."
At this point the mechanics recommended replacing the injectors, but was then faced with 'knocking' in the engine.
The mechanic then recommended replacing the engine. Mr Kerr did so and, with the new engine, seemed to be running well, only to fail on emissions a second time.
It was finally resolved when he bought a new DPF.
Mr Getgood added: "So that was £900 for the DPF, £1,450 for the engine and £1,600 for fitting.
"It has been one of those things. Trying to find the fault that went on and on. He's never had mechanical problems with vehicles before.
"There was nothing left this man could do to try and keep up. He couldn't do any more to fix it."
Councillors were asked whether to suspend the vehicle licences, but in both instances agreed to take no further action.
Councillor Ian Cavana commented on Mr Kerr's situation: "The gentleman has spent enough money. The figures there are quite frightening actually.
Councillor Dixon asked Mr Wright whether the issues around diesel engines, such as the DPF, were becoming apparent in the taxi industry.
Mr Wright replied: "It is becoming apparent worldwide, certainly more so in the UK because of the stop start nature of driving here.
"Taxis do more stop start and mileage than any. It is the mileage that blocks the system.
"You ultimately pay for that by paying £1,000 for a DPF.
"They are really not suited to that [short journeys]. But we have to live with that. It is not ideal for taxi owners."
Source: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ayrshire/taxi-driver-forced-spend-frightening-29839666
A Skipton man who made off without paying a taxi fare and failed to turn up to his hearing in court has been sentenced,
Kai Bailey, 20, from Skipton, was due to appear at Skipton Magistrates' Court on Friday, April 21, to face a charge of making off without paying a £126 taxi fare in relation to a journey from Harrogate to Skipton on Christmas Day last year.
According to the Craven Herald, when he failed to appear at court a warrant not backed by bail was issued. Bailey subsequently appeared at York Magistrates' Court on April 26.
He pleaded guilty to the offence.
Magistrates ordered he pay compensation to the taxi company of £126.
No order for costs or surcharge was made.
Three men who plotted to smuggle four Albanian migrants from Belgium to the UK in a light aircraft have been jailed.
BBC News reports that pilot Silavano Turchet (right) hired the plane, which fellow pilot Richard Styles (left) then used to fly the migrants to an airfield in Northamptonshire.
Private hire driver Vijayakumar Sivakumar (centre) picked the migrants up, but they were intercepted by police and officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Styles was arrested at the airfield.
Upon being arrested, he said: "I normally get arrested for drugs so it's a bit strange to be arrested for illegal immigration."
Turchet was arrested at a later date at his home in West Bridgford in Nottinghamshire, following what the judge described as a "very thorough" investigation by the NCA.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC sentenced Styles to seven years, Turchet to seven and a half years, and Sivakumar to four and a half years.
All of the defendants had previous convictions for either smuggling drugs or migrants.
The judge described Styles as "the go-to pilot for the illegal use of light aircraft", while Turchet was described as "a similar go-to man for fixing anything to do with the illegal use of light aircraft".
During the sentencing hearing at Leicester Crown Court on Friday 28 April, the prosecution explained the migrants were intercepted after the NCA received a tip-off.
The judge said the NCA then "moved very swiftly and impressively", and said he would be giving commendations to all involved.
The light aircraft landed at Deenethorpe Airfield in Northamptonshire on 24 March last year.
Styles was arrested at an aircraft hangar, while Sivakumar was arrested after taking the migrants to the nearby town of Corby in his Mercedes.
While Turchet was later arrested at his home, a fourth man involved in the plot "evaporated", the judge said, and has not been brought to justice.
Styles, 54, previously of St Albans but now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal immigration.
Turchet, 69, of West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.
The court heard the men had met in prison for previous offences, and both of their UK pilots' licences had been taken away from them.
However, Styles was able to get a US licence, the court heard.
Sivakumar, 43, from Tooting, London, was found guilty of facilitating illegal immigration following a trial.
He had previously been jailed for trying to smuggle an illegal immigrant into the UK inside a speaker in the boot of his car, but was stopped at the French end of the Channel Tunnel.
Following the hearing, the NCA appealed to the aviation community to help it prevent immigration crime.
"People smugglers use a range of methods to try and breach UK border controls, and we are determined to do all we can to stop them," said NCA's regional head of investigations, Jacque Beer.
"Styles was a career criminal who previously used his piloting skills to move consignments of drugs around Europe.
"His comments to my officers show that he considered getting arrested nothing more than an occupational hazard."
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-65424869
A former paratrooper turned pet taxi driver is in the running for an Animal Star Award for his work in Wakefield and Pontefract.
Tariq Rehman, 75, from Stechford, had his licence removed by Solihull Council in November last year following a complaint from a passenger.
A taxi firm boss has branded the criminal justice system "broken" after new figures revealed almost a third of offenders in the town reoffended within a year.
Dramatic CCTV footage has captured the moment a hooded figure set a taxi alight on a residential driveway.
A Drongan taxi driver has been convicted of sexually assaulting a female passenger after offering to waive her fare in exchange for sex.
Artur Nowostawski has been jailed for six years and nine months after he attacked a taxi driver earlier this year.
Taxi drivers in the city are facing significant financial losses after a series of electric vehicle charging point failures left them unable to operate.
Police are appealing for help to trace a man who disappeared after getting into a taxi bound for the Otley area of Leeds.
The company’s operator licence includes a condition ordering all drivers to undergo the same training as those from other companies.
Police have stopped a private hire driver who was driving the wrong way on the M1 close to Junction 8 at Hemel Hempstead.
Newcastle City Council is set to introduce strict new measures to tackle illegal and inconsiderate parking near Newcastle International Airport.
West Mercia Police is appealing for information following a rape that took place in Malvern's Priory Park early on Sunday, August 4th.
Glasgow taxi users could be facing a near-10% fare increase and extended night-time charges.
At least 14 cars have been damaged since June, with drivers suffering financial loss and emotional distress.
The attack happened at around 12.45pm on Etruria Vale Road, Stoke, when the victim, driving a Toyota Avensis, was punched in the face by one of the men.
Cumberland Council has taken decisive action to protect public safety by revoking the licence of a taxi driver charged last week with a serious racially aggravated offence.
A historic bridge has been closed indefinitely after an Uber car became wedged on Saturday morning.
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.