A taxi driver ‘no longer works nights’ after being robbed and threatened by three passengers.
The Lancashire Telegraph reports that Ellie Wade, 25, and Jordan Thorpe, 20, were spared jail at Burnley Crown Court on March 24 for their involvement in the robbery.
Claire Brocklebank, prosecuting, said Wade and Thorpe, along with ringleader Ryan Gardener, and another woman got in a cab at Merlin Close, Leyland, at around 11pm on December 18, 2020.
Due to the long journey to near Preston, the cabbie asked for the fare upfront and Gardener attempted to pay.
When his card was declined, the driver said they must either pay another way or get out of the cab.
Gardener then grabbed the driver from the back seat and shouted ‘rob him, rob him’.
Thorpe helped in restraining the driver, with Wade stealing just over £20 in change.
Other items were stolen from the driver and the girls fled, Gardener got out of the car, reached back through the window and punched the driver.
Gardener and Thorpe ran off but returned along with Wade and held up the driver’s car keys saying he would have to pay £40 or £50 to get them back.
The group fled when residents started coming out of their houses to see what was going on.
During the incident, the driver had managed to press a button which alerted his company to what was happening, allowing them to call the police.
Thorpe denied his involvement until January this year when he pleaded guilty, admitting his involvement in the robbery.
Wade continues to deny her involvement in the robbery despite being found guilty by a jury following a trial earlier this year.
In a victim impact statement, the taxi driver said he has lost income as he no longer works nights which are busier and he struggled to sleep for some time after the incident.
Gardener pleaded guilty to his involvement and was given 16 months in a young offenders institute by the courts in 2021.
Mitigating for Thorpe, from Fulwood, Mr Parkinson said his client had only just turned 18 at the time of the robbery and the judge should consider that in the sentence.
He also said Thorpe has recently become and father and jailing him would take him away from the three-month-old and his partner.
Mitigating for Wade, from Preston, Isobel Thomas said Wade was a single mother and jailing her would have a significant impact on her daughter.
Ms Thomas also said Wade was drunk at the time and she has since cut down on drinking.
District Judge Richard Clews said he accepted neither of the pair instigated the robbery and they just reacted to Gardener’s behaviour.
Judge Clews handed Thorpe a 15-month detention in a young offenders institution, suspended for 18 months.
He will be subject to a curfew between 7pm and 6am for three months and must complete 135 hours of unpaid work.
Wade was handed an 18-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
She must complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 150 hours of unpaid work.
Source: https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/23410566.taxi-drivers-terror-robbed-passengers/
An impotent taxi driver who raped a vulnerable young woman after picking her up outside a popular nightclub has been handed a ten-year sentence.
Michael Harte preyed on his drunk victim outside a nightclub in Belfast city centre before taking her to a quiet nearby road and raping her.
The Belfast Telegraph reports that Harte from west Belfast, tried to hide his number plate and lied to the victim about the firm he worked for in an attempt to evade justice but was jailed for the attack at Dungannon Crown Court in March.
Judge Richard Greene KC branded him a liar who had deliberately gone looking for an intoxicated young woman to victimise.
“It would have been obvious to you that she was very vulnerable and you formed the intent to rape her shortly thereafter,’’ he said.
“She was at your mercy and you carefully planned where and how you were going to attack her, you parked up in a back street off the main road and committed this appalling sexual assault on her.
“I consider this a carefully planned sexual assault and it is clear the impact on the victim has been profound.”
The court heard how the victim returned home from her night out in October 2016 in “quite a distressed state” with friends immediately sensing something was wrong.
She told her pals she had got into a taxi and was in it for a “long period of time” and thought something had happened but was “too drunk” to remember.
The victim later said in her police interview she remembered “being touched and felt someone on top of her”, adding: “I do feel like I’ve had sex”.
Harte denied raping her and insisted he had “reluctantly” given the victim a lift home, but this was rejected by the jury.
Lawyers for Harte told the court in mitigation their client is “unwell” and suffers from high cholesterol, high blood pressure, back pain, type 2 diabetes and asthma as well as erectile dysfunction.
Incredibly, they also sought to play down his offending by insisting his erectile dysfunction would make him less likely to commit similar crimes in the future.
Referring to the victim personal statement, the judge said the victim may never recover from her ordeal and ordered Harte to spend five years behind bars followed by five on licence.
“She describes being consumed by her assault, which is a powerful indicator of the impact of your offending,” he said.
“You continue to deny your guilt and therefore lack remorse, you thought you could sexually assault her and she would not be able to recollect the events and hold you to account for your crime.
“It is obvious she will have significant difficulty getting over what you did to her and in reality she will never do.”
As well as his ten-year sentence, Harte was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and was slapped with a sexual offences prevention order for ten years.
A taxi driver has been convicted of making a false statement in order to obtain a licence.
On June 28 2022, Zaheer Abbas, applied for the grant of a private hire and hackney carriage driver’s licence from Chorley Council.
In support of his application, he declared he had never been convicted of an offence and he had never had a licence revoked by another council.
In fact, he had been convicted by Manchester Magistrates’ Court in 2017 for an offence of unlawfully plying for hire.
Following this, he had his hackney carriage driver licence revoked by Rossendale Borough Council.
Lancashire Telegraph reports that this dishonesty was identified by Chorley Council officers during their usual licensing checks and an investigation was launched with Abbas withdrawing his application for a licence shortly after.
Abbas, 41, was then invited to explain his actions on several occasions, confirming to officers he was going to attend an interview under caution before then failing to attend.
His actions generated hundreds of pounds in interpreter costs.
Regardless of his failure to assist with the investigation, the council decided to charge Abbas for an offence contrary to Section 57 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.
Abbas pleaded guilty to this offence but requested a court hearing to mitigate the sentence.
Following a hearing at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court on March 8, Abbas from Burnley, was convicted of the offence and sentenced to a fine of £120, reduced to £80 due to his early guilty plea and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £32 and the council’s costs of £539.
Rossendale Borough Council provided a witness statement as part of the proceedings.
Following the successful prosecution, private hire and hackney carriage licence applicants are being urged to be honest with the council about past convictions.
Chair of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee, Councillor Matthew Lynch said: “This is great result for the team and a great example of partnership working.
"We are robust in our application checks and our message for prospective drivers is to be honest with us about past applications and convictions because we will find out.
“If they are not completely honest with the council when applying for a licence, they could find themselves with a criminal record and a hefty fine to pay.”
A new rule on making taxis in South Gloucestershire accessible to people in wheelchairs has been delayed because of “recent global events”.
The Bristol Post reports that the rule was scheduled to come into force in April, but has been paused due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
In a bid to make travelling easier for disabled people, South Gloucestershire Council decided in 2017 to encourage hackney carriages to switch to wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
A hard deadline for all hackney carriages to be wheelchair-accessible was set for April 1 this year.
But taxi drivers have urged the council to delay the rollout of the new rule.
The council is also considering a separate rule forcing all taxis to be electric by 2030, and electric wheelchair-accessible taxis are currently “prohibitively expensive”.
Drivers also said the pandemic meant a huge drop in trade, and the war in Ukraine had disrupted global supply chains, delaying the manufacturing and supply of new vehicles.
The council’s regulatory committee voted to delay the launch of the new rule on Thursday, March 23.
A report to the committee said: “This is not an attempt by hackney carriage vehicle licence holders and drivers to avoid the policy, and they understand why it is happening.
"The drivers are seeking a greater degree of sympathy from the committee, to give them the chance to adjust to the change given the wider circumstances.”
The policy has already made some progress in increasing the numbers of taxis in South Gloucestershire which passengers in wheelchairs can use.
"According to the report, in 2016 there were 31 wheelchair-accessible taxis, and now there are 37.
But drivers have to wait a year or 18 months to be able to buy a new wheelchair-accessible taxi, according to councillors, who warned that enforcing the policy from next month could mean drivers would be “out of work” — despite the trade having six years of notice about the new policy.
Conservative Councillor Keith Burchell, representing Severn Vale, said: “This has been going on for a long time but unfortunately due to the events of the last three or four years, we have to do something now just to alleviate the situation, because the situation has changed since this was first recommended.
“If the events of the past three or four years hadn’t happened, there would be no way I would be recommending this [delay] today. But the vehicles aren’t available for the trade to get.
"They’ll have to wait a year or 18 months to get a vehicle. That means a taxi driver, if we implement this, could be out of work for a year or 18 months as they haven’t got a vehicle.”
Source: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/wheelchair-accessible-taxis-rule-delayed-8285931
A cabbie has been attacked by his two passengers who then stole his car.
The Windsor Observer reports that Thames Valley Police is investigating a robbery which happened between the hours of 12.05am and 12.35am on Monday, March 20.
The cabbie was driving along Stomp Road, Burnham, when his two passengers attacked him and demanded money.
Luckily he was able to get out of his white Toyota Prius Active car, which the offenders then drove away.
The victim, a man in his 40s, suffered minor injuries to his face that did not require hospital treatment.
The offenders were described as two white men aged between 25 and 30-years-old, around 5ft 8ins tall.
One man had short hair and the other man was wearing a grey hooded top.
The white Prius has not been found since the robbery.
Case investigator, Daniel Fallis, based at Slough police station, said: “We are appealing to any witnesses, or anyone who may have information, about this incident to come forward.
“The car has not been located and so we would also appeal to anyone who has information as to its whereabouts to also get in touch.
“Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101 or making a report online, quoting reference 43230122977.
“Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers to report anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via its website.”
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.