A man has been jailed for 14 years after killing a 21-year-old woman when he drove the wrong way on a major arterial road at high speed in a stolen van and crashed head on into an Uber cab.
The Welwyn Hatfield Times reports that Ashley Loveday, 39, was behind the wheel of a Peugeot Boxer van when the collision happened on the A13 in east London, early on November 25 last year.
Grace Payne, 21, who had been a passenger in a Toyota Prius Uber vehicle, was killed in the collision.
The driver of the Uber, Sundar Ali, 59, was seriously injured but survived.
Loveday routinely sped that evening at 85mph in 30 and 40 mph zones, up to 97mph in another 30mph zone and at between 70mph and 90mph in a 50mph zone on the A13 while travelling into oncoming traffic.
He also drove through red lights and pedestrian crossings.
A toxicology report found he had cocaine in his system.
In January, Loveday pleaded guilty to causing Ms Payne’s death and causing serious injury to Mr Ali by his dangerous driving.
Loveday, from east London, also admitted aggravated vehicle taking of the van on or before November 22 last year.
He appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey on Thursday 9 March, sporting a neck-tattoo and supported by a crutch.
Judge Mark Dennis KC sentenced him to 14 years in prison for causing death by dangerous driving, to two years and eight months imprisonment each for causing serious injury by dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking, to run concurrently.
Loveday will serve two-thirds of the sentence before he is released on licence.
The judge told him: “Your actions on that fateful night in November last year involved driving at the highest level of dangerousness to others in a prolonged and determined course of dangerous driving, leaving in its wake two victims.
“It has caused indescribable anguish for many, and irreparable harm.
“It was perhaps only pure chance that others were not also harmed at one stage or another in that dreadful course of driving.”
The judge also disqualified Loveday from driving for 19 years and four months from Thursday.
Ms Payne’s parents paid tribute to their daughter in a victim impact statement read out by the prosecutor.
They said: “Grace’s death has left us as a family devastated. We are struggling to come to terms with the fact that our daughter will never be coming home,” they added.
Ms Payne was described as a “caring, compassionate, bright, funny, bubbly” person who loved children and planned to one day retrain from human resources to become a primary school teacher.
Police officers pursued Loveday after the van he was driving activated an ANPR camera. Loveday failed to stop or slow down but instead increased his speed when officers started to follow him.
Officers discontinued their pursuit after Loveday joined the A13, deeming it “too dangerous” to follow him travelling against oncoming traffic.
A number of the officers involved were described as experienced and highly trained and the court heard that they had “never seen” driving as dangerous.
The prosecutor told the court that Mr Ali had “no chance at all” to avoid the defendant’s vehicle.
The Uber driver was taken to the Royal London Hospital with a wounded spleen and fractures to his right collar bone, left upper arm bone and bone at the base of his right thumb.
The court heard Mr Ali’s brain function is impaired and that he experiences painful headaches and forgetfulness.
In a victim impact statement, summarised by the prosecutor, Mr Ali said he has lost his income and believes he will never get his physical strength back.
He added that he is “traumatised” by the incident, especially in relation to what happened to Ms Payne.
Loveday has been before the courts since he was 16, having been convicted of 81 offences on 54 occasions between 2000 and 2022, the court heard.
His previous convictions include aggravated vehicle taking, wounding, affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
At the time of the offence, he did not have a driving licence, was uninsured to drive the van and was wanted for breaching court orders.
Loveday has never passed a driving test, the court heard.
Mr Bhasin said his client is “extremely distressed” over what did and is remorseful.
Ellis Williams, district crown prosecutor with the CPS, said: “This sentence reflects the severity of Loveday’s offending. He chose to indulge in a dangerous high speed vehicle chase, which tragically ended in the death of Grace Payne and left Sundar Ali with serious injuries.
“Nothing can bring Grace back but I hope this sentence goes some way to comfort her family at this difficult time.”
Taxi services from Edinburgh Airport will now be provided by a private hire firm after previous operator City Cabs lost out on the contract.
Edinburgh News reports that from April 14, Capital Cars will provide both the black cab and private hire operation at Edinburgh Airport after a joint bid by black cab companies was rejected.
The move from two operators to one single company will see Capital Cars – which currently only provides private hire vehicles – managing the airport service for the next five years.
It’s understood they will need to recruit black cab drivers, who are largely self-employed, but the move has sparked fears about a lack of available black cabs for those with disabilities.
A spokesperson for Edinburgh cab branch of Unite said: "Our big concern is that there will be a lack of available black cabs and these are crucial for peak times, families and larger groups and for people with disabilities or mobility issues.
"It will go from hundreds of black cabs to a handful or a dozen if they are lucky. There’s a real danger then that disabled people and particularly those that use wheelchairs will struggle to get accessible transport from the airport.
"It’ quiet now but during the summer and peak times there’s huge demand for vehicles, after we’ve seen a reduction in taxis since the pandemic."
Airport chiefs said the change will allow a ‘closer working relationship’ and that the deal would ensure "a steady supply of vehicles for passengers.”
An Edinburgh airport spokesperson added that they were confident that Capital Cars could deliver on the deal to provide a mix of both black cabs and private hire vehicles and stressed that the tender process had been ‘stringent'.
The changes will also see a shift to upgraded technology, including charging points for electric vehicles, a queue monitoring system, and new automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, being installed to improve the passenger experience.
A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: “Onward travel from an airport is an important part of the passenger journey and we want to make that as easy and smooth as possible by providing as many options as we can.
“The tender process has worked to identify how we can ensure a consistent and reliable supply of taxis and private hire cars for passengers who need that option and we are now able to confirm Capital Cars as our black cab and private hire operator for the next five years.
"We think the new measures we will introduce as part of this deal will provide passengers with up to date data on taxi and private hire times, as well as encourage that move to electric vehicles thanks to the installation of new charging points.
"We know the taxi industry has faced challenges during Covid recovery and that has been experienced in cities across Scotland and the UK, and we hope the new measures together with a sole operator operating our rank will allow us to have a closer working relationship to identify where and how we can improve the experience for passengers.”
A spokesperson for Capital Cars said: "We understand there is some trepidation around this contract, as it's the first time Edinburgh Airport has had only one operator delivering both black cabs and private hire vehicles. But we already have some hackney cabs registered to work with us and we are looking to recruit more in the coming weeks.
"Comments about a lack of black cabs are just scaremongering. We are confident we can deliver the mix of both vehicles and meet customers' needs."
All taxis operating in the St Albans District will have to accept contactless payments and can no longer be cash only.
The rule is intended to improve public safety by ensuring people are not left stranded because they do not have cash.
It follows a growing number of complaints from people who were unable to get a taxi late at night because they only had a card.
The decision to make a contactless payments option mandatory was made by St Albans City and District Counci after consulting with taxi drivers and their representatives.
Taxi drivers will have until Wednesday 3 May to comply with the new regulation by equipping their vehicles with card machines or they risk losing their licence.
The machines are able to take contactless payments from mobile phone apps such as Apple Pay as well as bank cards.
Councillor Raj Visram, Chair of the Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee, said: "Many taxis carry card machines already, but there are some that still choose not to.
"We felt there was clear support for making contactless payments mandatory as more and more people no longer carry cash.
"We live in a digital age and this new rule not only recognises that, but will also improve public safety by ensuring people are not left in a vulnerable situation by not having cash to pay for a taxi home.
"This change will also be good for the local taxi trade as those drivers who chose to be cash only were missing a lot of business."
Source: https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/news/contactless-payments-made-mandatory-option-taxis-st-albans-district
Taxi drivers in Tunbridge Wells are being ‘encouraged’ to accept card payments and to not always insist customers pay in cash.
The Times of Tunbridge Wells reports that the borough council has been forced to act after passengers have been left frustrated by drivers who insist on cash payments to avoid paying costly card transaction fees.
Customers have complained on social media about being turned away from taxis when they cannot pay in cash.
However, Tunbridge Wells taxi drivers have explained how the costly transaction fees, signal ‘cold spots’, and bank payment disputes have affected their business.
Taxi driver, Clayton Berry of Cleggy’s Taxi told the Times: “The fees on card payments for drivers is very high, which is why many only accept cash. We get charged 1.79 per cent for taking a card payment and up to 2 per cent on an international card like Amex.
“Taxi drivers are already paying for licensing, petrol, and the vehicle, and this is another cost on top.
“We are stuck to the meter price, set by the council and we cannot increase our fares to cover the extra cost, unlike private hires can.
Toni Conlon, of Tunbridge Wells 888, said: “We are having to pay up to 3.5 per cent on some transaction fees and I don’t know how many other people have to put up with that.
“Sometimes we have to wait up to a week to get paid by the [card] companies with some of my friends waiting up to six weeks for a transaction.
“There are also many cold spots around Tunbridge Wells where there is no signal on the customer’s phone or our card reader – these are usually around Mayfield and Crowborough.
“You then have to drive around finding signal which makes the meter go up and customers get annoyed.
"They have also been times when people’s phones have run out of charge or people have forgotten their PIN number,” Mr Conlon explained.
“There have been cases when people dispute the payment with the bank as an ‘unrecognised transaction’ and they can claim the money back – it has happened to around three drivers I know.”
Former Tunbridge Wells councillor David Scott, who maintains an interest in bus and taxi transport, pointed out the disadvantages of taxi drivers taking card payments.
He said: “One of the existing problems is that they often end up being delivered to somewhere without mobile reception.
“You get to the end of the journey and then they can’t take it [the payment].”
In a poll run by the Times recently, 84 per cent of respondents said they had experienced ‘cash only’ taxis, with many online comments calling for the council to make all drivers have a card reader.
One commenter said: “Come on TWBC, get cards made mandatory, as well as cash, and do it soon! It’s obviously infuriating people.”
Mr Berry of Cleggy’s Taxi explained: “Around 25 to 30 per cent of drivers take cards and the rest prefer cash payments unless it is a long journey where they can make a good profit.
“At the moment the council does not require taxi drivers to take cards, but all hackney carriages must abide by the licensing rules laid out by the council.”
“I think more drivers should take cards – I do with no issues – but I understand why they don’t because they lose money.”
The borough council is aware of the issues and said it has written to the taxi drivers in the hope of encouraging more drivers to take card payments.
Luke Everitt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, said: “I can understand how frustrating it is to find that a taxi is cash only when you just want to get on with your journey.
“Under existing council policy, drivers are not obliged to accept card payments. It is a business decision on their part which I’m sure is influenced by the transaction fees they might incur.
"If a passenger does not have an alternative means of payment the driver would be within their rights to decline the fare.
“That said, the council’s Licensing Team has recently written to the taxi drivers encouraging those who do not accept card payments to do so, and to advise them that drivers should be flexible and take people to cashpoints if necessary to avoid leaving them stranded.
“We will continue to work with local drivers to develop practical taxi licensing that residents would expect, while balancing drivers’ business needs in a difficult financial time for us all.”
A senior Boston councillor has reportedly been caught on camera verbally attacking a taxi driver due to political differences, it has been claimed.
The Lincolnite reports that a full council meeting heard that dashcam footage allegedly exists of the incident, but the footage hasn’t been shared with the paper.
The councillor supposedly involved wasn’t named at the Boston Borough Council meeting on Monday 6 March.
The licensing committee has been made aware of the reported incident, although a formal complaint hasn’t been made.
However, councillors have called for CCTV to be mandatory in order to protect drivers from similar incidents.
Conservative Councillor Tom Ashton raised the issue to Councillor Frank Picket, who chairs the licensing committee.
“I am as aware, as you are, of dashcam footage allegedly existing of one of our licensed taxi drivers being subjected to verbal abuse by a very senior member of this council on account of historic political differences,” he said.
“Recognising the absolute importance to give protection to our drivers, would you please raise with officers whether audiovisual recording equipment could be made mandatory for all Boston’s licensed vehicles to give them the protection they might need?”
It is understood the alleged event happened while the taxi driver was working in the early morning and that they were referred to by an insulting name.
Councillor Pickett told members there was no current policy requirements for CCTV to be fitted in licensed vehicles.
However, he said: “In respect of licensed drivers, they are all subject to six monthly DBS checks and are expected to operate in accordance with this Authority’s Code of Conduct for licensed drivers.”
He told councillors he would be working with officers to look at Councillor Ashton’s request.
A private hire driver was found asleep in his vehicle in the middle of the road, prompting concerns for public safety.
A private hire driver who continued to work despite having his licence suspended, has been prosecuted by Oldham Council.
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As of this year, only 278 licensed taxis are in service, significantly lower than the government's goal of 310.
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A year after the removal of a taxi rank due to lack of customers, Ipswich Borough Council is proposing to introduce a new five-place rank on Key Street.
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