A TAXI driver is having his licence reviewed after he assaulted a man who parked in a taxi rank.

Amjid Qurban, who has been a taxi driver for six years, lost his self control after Carlo Vella parked in the rank in Stafford Street, Hanley, on February 20 last year.

Mr Vella got out of his car and began walking to a bank when Qurban shouted: “You can’t park there.”

He then got out his taxi and shouted at Mr Vella, who was then assaulted.

Prosecutor Neil Ahuja told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court Qurban was joined by other men.

He said: “Mr Vella was knocked to the ground in a shop doorway.

“This defendant was involved in punching and kicking him on the floor.

“It is clear from witnesses that the defendant was the main aggressor.”

Mr Vella’s girlfriend Sarah Twigg tried to intervene, but Qurban pushed her away.

Mr Ahuja said Mr Vella got up and kicked the defendant’s taxi door.

He pleaded guilty to criminal damage and received a conditional discharge.

After he kicked the taxi Mr Vella was attacked again and was punched and kicked on the floor.

“Witnesses intervened to stop the attack, thinking the defendant was going to cause serious injury,” said Mr Ahuja.

Mr Vella was left with a small cut and graze to his neck, bruising to his forearm and a sore chin.

Qurban, aged 27, of Spring Road, Normacot, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault.

Paul Cliff, mitigating, said Mr Vella had been confrontational but conceded Qurban, as a taxi driver, should have reacted better.

“He wishes to apologise to the court for the loss of self control. He is ashamed. It was wholly out of character.

“Taxi drivers are regularly exposed to provocation of some description and like most taxi drivers, he has been the victim of violence,” said Mr Cliff.

He said Qurban, who has no previous convictions, does not know whether he will be able to continue as a taxi driver.

“He will have to inform the licensing authorities of the outcome (of these proceedings) and they will have to decide what consequences will follow from that.”

Mr Cliff added Qurban is a sole carer for his four-year-old daughter.

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones sentenced Qurban to a community order with 120 hours’ unpaid work.

He told the defendant: “You completely lost your temper and became so violent. But it was an aberration and I am prepared to accept that.”

Qurban must also pay Mr Vella £300 compensation and £500 prosecution costs.

Councillor Joy Garner, chairman of Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s licensing and registration panel, said: “If someone is referred to the licensing section, officers will first look at how serious the offence is.

“In really serious cases the chairman and vice-chairman of the panel and the senior licensing officer can sit and agree or disagree whether to immediately suspend a driver’s licence.”

source: http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/

Brian George Slack, 76, of Main Street, Cadoxton, told magistrates in Barry he could not remember anything about the incident, in which it was alleged he had touched and squeezed the breast of 61-year-old June Lloyd.

He denied the charge, made under the Sexual Offences Act, that he had intentionally touched a woman, knowing that the touching was sexual.

Mrs Lloyd, who has waived her right to anonymity, told the court that he had also put his arm around her and unsuccessfully took a swing at her, after she had taken him to Main Street, after 8pm on September 15.

She signalled a Code 1 emergency to the A2B office and 20 taxi drivers arrived on the scene, but the court heard there had been no police response at the time to the office’s call. Prosecuting, Nia James told the court Mrs Lloyd had answered a request for her cab to pick up passengers from Clos yr Harbwr, but only two drunk males, one she believed to be in his 40s and one older – the accused – got in.

The men, sat in the rear, decided against stopping at a shop in Barry Road and asked to be taken to Main Street, stopping near the junction at Pontypridd Street.

Mrs Lloyd told police: “As I pulled up I half turned to ask for the fare – about £6.50. The elderly gentleman leaned over and grabbed my breast.

“I said: ‘Keep your hands to yourself’, and I immediately got out of the vehicle.”

The other male, she said, left without paying and the intoxicated Slack was unable to move from the cab for two or three minutes.

She added: “As he got out he stood up and made another grab for me, again touching my breast.

“I told him to keep his hands to himself, I wanted paying.

“He tried to put his arm around me, then he took a swing at me and being drunk, he missed.”

Two young boys and a girl, the court heard, witnessed the scene and asked if she needed help.

She said: “I felt really sick, and I didn’t work for the rest of the night. I have been a bit wary about going out now.”

Police arrested Slack 12 days after the incident.

The court heard he and three others had drunk three flagons of Frosted Jack cider in Thompson Street before calling a taxi to Clos yr Harbwr.

Slack said he thought one of the men had given the pair £10 for the fare.

“All I wanted to do was get in the house and get my head down,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how drunk I am, I’m not like that.”

Summing up, chairman of the bench David Taylor, in finding Slack guilty on February 17, said: “We find Mrs Lloyd a credible witness and consistent in her account of events.”

And, sentencing Slack on March 10, District Judge Richard Williams said: “The victim was providing a valuable service to the public and she was vulnerable in being on her own in a motor car with two men.”

Slack was given a nine-month supervised community order, ordered to pay £200 compensation to Mrs Lloyd, and was banned from contacting her or using A2B cabs for three years.

Mrs Lloyd said: “I am just glad that justice has been done.

“If people don’t come forward when something like this happens, it’s going to happen again.”

source: http://www.barryanddistrictnews.co.uk/news/latestnews/

China’s largest independent carmaker is poised to take control of Manganese Bronze, maker of London’s black taxi, as another slice of Britain’s car making heritage looks set to fall into the arms of a foreign owner.

Sluggish sales of the world’s most recognised taxi have prompted Manganese Bronze to consider offering more shares to the Geely Group, the Chinese company which already owns a 23 per cent stake.

The company, which reported its results for the year ending December 31, said that a placing to Geely to fund vehicle assembly, development and distribution would be priced at 70p per share and would give the group a controlling stake in Manganese.

The placing has been agreed with two of the company’s biggest shareholders but the company is adamant that ceding control to Geely will not mean the end of manufacturing at the company’s works in Coventry.

Shares in Manganese Bronze have traded in the range of 80 to 90p in recent weeks, but hit a high of 238p last summer.

“An equity placing to Geely will fully cement our relationship, enhance the group’s capital base and see the potential for the group to expand into the assembly and distribution of Geely vehicles,” John Russell, the Manganese chief executive, said.

Manganese is already a 48 per cent shareholder in a joint venture with Geely in China called Shanghai LTI, which makes cabs for the international market.

Geely has shown an interest in Western carmakers, having agreed in December to buy Volvo from Ford.

The placing is dependent upon agreements being finalised with Geely for the distribution of taxis in Europe and the sale of a Geely saloon car in the UK.

Manganese said that it had sold only 1,724 London taxis in the key UK market last year, down from 1,951 in 2008.

It said that it was moving body panels and chassis production from Coventry to Shanghai this year, after its UK coating supplier announced plans to shut down in August.

The move would further the company’s ties with China and lead to the loss of 60 jobs, leaving Manganese with 300 employees - down from a pre-recession peak of about 500.

Seven weeks after issuing a profits warning which sent its shares down 20 per cent, the taxi maker said that the recession had particularly affected its core London market. Shares in the company fell 0.5p to 85p in early trading today.

Total revenue for 2009 was £73.1 million, down from £77.2 million in 2008. The company posted pre-tax losses of £7.3 million, an improvement on the previous year’s loss of £14.2 million, although that included a £4 million impairment charge relating to the recall of taxis with radiator problems. The forecast was for a pre-tax loss of £6.8 million.

“2009 was a difficult year for our UK taxi operation with significant discount and sales incentives…combined with price pressure from fragile UK suppliers,” Mr Russell, the chief executive, said.

“Current trading continues to be adversely impacted by the wider economic environment.”

Increased warranties, which rose after Manganese recalled a number of taxis, had dented operating profits, the company said. The lack of availability of finance was “a major issue” for the company, restricting international sales to 212 vehicles. Manganese now had “higher levels of inventory than would be ideal.”

No dividend will be paid for 2009 and will not be paid until the company returns to profitability, it said.

The company confirmed that it planned to transfer its listing to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to meeting UK Listing Authority requirements over the control of assets.

source: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/

Private Hire drivers in Leeds claim they are being unfairly slapped with parking tickets when they are collecting fares in the city centre.

Javaid Akhtar, president of the Leeds Private Hire Association, has hit out at Leeds City Council, claiming that its parking enforcements,
particularly at night, are unfair on passengers.

Mr Akhtar, a representative of the GMB trade union, claimed that wardens are taking down the registration plates of private hire vehicles without informing them when they are dropping off or picking customers up.

He said that most drivers do not know they have been slapped with a fine, which ranges between £35 and £70, until they receive a letter in the post weeks later.

Mr Akhtar added that some drivers are being given up to two or three fines a week – one driver received two tickets in 10 minutes in Leeds City Centre.

He said: “The wardens don’t give you the tickets on the spot. They post them out to you maybe a month later, but by that time the drivers can’t recall if they were in that place or not.

“We will not accept the parking tickets for our members.

“I want Leeds City Council to cancel these tickets and sit down with us to see if we can find pick-up and drop-off points for private hire drivers in the city.

“If they are going to issue the tickets the council need to send a warning to drivers and private hire firms to let them know where they can and can’t park.”

Mr Akhtar said that one of the main areas where drivers were being fined was Cookridge Street, in the city centre.

He added: “It is unfair on the customers, especially for vulnerable women or the disabled.

“Taxi drivers are the backbone of this city’s economy and now enough is enough.”

Secretary Aurangzeb Qabal added: “When people book a taxi they say to collect them from a specific point. You don’t just drop them off half-a-mile down the road.

“Taxi drivers are just an easy and soft target.”

A spokeswoman for Leeds City Council said: “There have been well documented problems in the city centre with taxis waiting on yellow lines, parking in bus stops, blocking junctions and generally causing congestion.

“We decided to adopt a more robust policy when other approaches failed to deal with the problem and this has been ongoing since the summer.

“We also do a lot of joint working with the police to tackle the problem, which includes the issuing of tickets.

“We have regular meetings with the taxi drivers themselves and their representatives and if a ticket has been issued incorrectly they can contact us in the usual way.”

source: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/

Taxis drivers in Bournemouth have won a battle with the council to be allowed to drop off and pick up customers at bus stops without being fined.

United Taxis fought for the exemption after new mobile cameras started to catch drivers who said they often had limited places to drop off customers.

It was revealed more than 1,300 fines were issued for parking near schools and at bus stops since patrols began.

This compared to 122 in the same time before use started in June 2009.

But taxis will still face fines for parking outside schools although a number of sites are in discussions with drivers to arrange appropriate places to stop.

£70 fine

Derek Heritage, from United Taxis, has been speaking to council officials for months to work out a compromise.

He said: “It’s a pity it has taken so long for the council to sort this out but we are happy our drivers can now stop without being fined.

“I will be the first one to say a driver should be fined if they are parking for 10 minutes in a bus stop but it has been widely regarded that we can drop off quickly and now the council has realised this.”

He said drivers take many elderly customers out where the only legal parking space may be a long way from their destination or home.

Councillor Robert Lawton, member for environment and transport, said: “We have worked in partnership with representatives of the taxi trade to come to an initial set of agreements.

“We will be continuing our discussions with the taxi trade to… effectively produce a code of conduct that will be binding on both parties.”

If caught, motorists face a £70 fine, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/8568173.stm

ONE in five cars pulled over in a police crackdown on suspect vehicles was a taxi.

And half of those private-hire vehicles had their licences revoked on the spot because they should not have been on Bolton’s roads, officers found.

The results of the police operation last night prompted calls for the authorities to get tougher on private-hire cars — and drivers with “people’s lives in their hands” to clean up their acts.

It comes after concerns for the safety of the town’s private-hire cars were raised at the end of last year by Cllr David Wilkinson, of Bolton Council’s licensing committee.

Last night he said: “I am extremely worried by these figures, but not surprised. It confirms concerns I have had for some time that despite spot-checks of vehicles, the messages are not getting through to certain members of the trade.

“A significant minority do not seem to understand the importance of the terms and conditions of their licence or roadworthiness.”

Officers from Greater Manchester Police were out in force in Deane on Friday as part of a national day of action.

They used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology and intelligence to pull over 150 vehicles in four hours.

ANPR checks registration plates against a national database and flags up any issues with drivers, or whether the vehicle is taxed or insured, so officers can act immediately.

The technology has become a valuable police tool for uncovering and disrupting criminal activity.

Of the 150 vehicles which ANPR highlighted, 28 were private-hire vehicles, of which 15 had their licences suspended immediately.

Inspector Paul Philbin said: “The day was all about denying criminals the use of the road and disrupting them, while reassuring the public that we are doing something.

“The licences were suspended for various offences, breach of licence and vehicles defects, so it was about road safety too.

“At the end of the day, it could be you or me getting in those vehicles on a night out so everything needs to be in order.”

Asif Vali runs Rapid Private Hire and has about 40 vehicles operating in Bolton.

He said: “I am shocked by the figures, these drivers have people’s lives in their hands.

“I think these operations are very good because people with breaches or defects need to be found and it sends out the messages.

“This should not be happening though and raises questions, are the owners getting warnings or reprimands, should the council go back to testing vehicles, instead of opening it up to other garages, which the private-hire association and council need to look at.”

Private-hire drivers have to abide by a range of conditions, including carrying a copy of the conditions with them at all times, holding a valid private-hire licence and wearing a driver’s badge at all times.

Defects could include bald tyres and broken seatbelts.

The operation also saw police issue 42 fixed-penalty notices for issues such as using a mobile phone while driving and not wearing a seatbelt; five cars were seized for having no insurance; and officers are investigating a number of vehicles.

Two drivers were arrested because they were wanted by police.

source: http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/

The potholed state of Glasgow’s roads could put some taxi drivers out of business, the Evening Times has learned from drivers.

Cabbies in the city are increasingly being hit with huge repair bills to fix taxis damaged by potholes.

Taxi driver John Fleming, 57, had to fork out £760 in August to repair the drive shaft of his Hackney cab. He lost an extra £300 in business while the car was in the garage for three days.

Mr Fleming, a cabbie for 15 years, did not see the 6in deep crater on the corner of Argyle and Hope Street.

He said: “It was lashing with rain – I had no chance of seeing it. It nearly put me out of business. I lost over £1,000 through no fault of my own. I thought at the time, ‘I can’t take any more of this.’”

And he knows he isn’t the only driver suffering.

“Every cabbie in Glasgow will tell you their repair costs are way up,” he said. “Everyone has spring damage, suspension damage, drive shaft damage, wheel damage, all caused by the roads. It’s a daily occurrence.”

Mr Fleming made a claim to Glasgow City Council. But they refused to compensate him or admit negligence saying the pothole had not been reported to them.

But Mr Fleming obtained a council report under the Freedom of Information Act that highlighted potholes in the area, though no specific locations.

He explained: “On their report the area around the pothole is highlighted. That part of the road had been damaged and repaired before so they must have known about it. Whether it had been reported before is another story.”

Even the local police knew about the hole so the council must have, reckons Mr Fleming.

PC Victor Dodds, who filed the report of the incident, said to Mr Fleming that it was a ‘really bad hole’. “So obviously it had been there some time,” adds Mr Fleming.

The council later repaired the hole. But over the next two months Mr Fleming watched as it reappeared and got bigger until eventually underlying pipes were exposed.

Mr Fleming is still pursuing his compensation claim against the council, and has asked Glasgow Taxis, a mutual co-operative representing 700 taxi owners, to help him.

Director of Glasgow Taxis, Kevin Deane, thinks drivers should be compensated in cases such as Mr Fleming’s.

He said: “If the damage was cased by a massive hole in the road and there was no warning, then it’s unfair the drivers have to pay out of their own pocket.

“We get daily reports through the radio system warning drivers about potholes. The condition of the roads is absolutely disgusting, the worst I’ve ever seen.”

And they are not being fixed fast enough: “We recently reported two massive potholes in Hope Street,” Mr Deane said. “They are fixed now but only days after being reported.”

The Evening Times revealed this week, as part of our Pothole Watch campaign, that there are gaping holes, some up to 12in deep, all over the city.

Taxi driver Bill McColl, 55, who has been a cabbie for 18 years, said: “At the moment you’re hitting bumps all day long. It’s atrocious.”

Mr McColl recently had to pay out £497 for repairs when a wheel bearing collapsed after hitting a pothole in the West End.

Another driver, Jim Rodden, 61, paid £300 on Monday to repair ball joints broken after driving over the same huge pothole at Gibson Street and University Avenue. Mr Rodden reckons road repairs are not done to a satisfactory standard.

Mr Rodden said: “They throw ready-made tarmac on the hole and don’t hammer it down enough – half an hour later, the hole is back.”

Mr Rodden, a taxi driver for the last 23 years, said: “These are the worst roads I’ve seen in my whole life.”

Last year our Ripped Off Glasgow campaign revealed the extent of botched repair jobs by utility firms. Last week these same companies were given a final warning to repair roads properly – or face a hefty fine.

According to Glasgow City Council, with figures validated by Audit Scotland, the city is rated the 6th best performing council in Scotland for the percentage of repairs to the network that should be considered for re-repairs. But it acknowledges there are still problems.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council, which has paid out £40,000 a year in compensation in the last few years to road users, said: “We pay compensation where we are liable.

“Provided the authority can demonstrate that there is a reasonable system of inspection and repair in place, and that the system was adhered to, the authority will not normally be liable.

“Although our roads have stood up very well to higher traffic volumes we are now seeing signs of stress.

“The city is disadvantaged by the way central government allocates funds – one that recognises the length of a road; not its use.

“The Council is increasing its own investment and has trebled budgets for the coming year.”

source: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/

A woman private hire driver who repeatedly lied to avoid three penalty points and a fine after running a red light has been jailed for trying to pervert the course of justice.

Tracey Stevens ran a light on Outland Road on September 17 last year.

Caught by an automatic camera, her punishment would have been three points on her licence and a fine of £60-£100.

Instead, she constructed an elaborate alibi which was eventually exposed as a tissue of lies.

Stevens, 41, told police the brakes on her Citroen people-carrier had failed and she was unable to stop.

She had then left the signwritten Star Cars cab at the side of the road to be picked up and repaired by local garage Evans Halshaw, she said.

She eventually produced a letter-headed invoice from the garage detailing repairs costing £135.44.

But her plan unravelled because she made a series of mistakes:

A police expert examined the cab and found the brakes had not been repaired.

Three times in the hour following the incident, when Stevens claims the cab was abandoned by the side of the road, it was caught driving round Plymouth by cameras with a number plate recognition system.

In her second police interview, carried out a day after the first at Stevens’ request, she admitted she had got a friend who worked at the garage to supply her with a blank invoice which someone had helped her fill in.

Jason Beal, for Stevens, said in the weeks before the incident, Stevens had suffered an incident in her cab which had distressed her so much that she had to take two weeks off from her job as a self-employed Star Cars driver.

This had strained her finances so she took a chance to avoid a fine.

Mr Beal added: “She is not a bad woman; there is good in her and she wants to give something back.”

Judge Francis Gilbert QC told Stevens her intention had been to avoid prosecution, but she had made matters much worse for herself.

Judge Gilbert jailed Stevens, of Cecil Street, Stonehouse, for eight months and imposed three penalty points on her licence.

A spokeswoman for the Devon and Cornwall Safety Camera Partnership said: “It is disappointing to find that people are still going to great and calculated lengths to avoid prosecution despite extensive media coverage highlighting similar cases and their resulting sentences.

“We urge offenders to think seriously about the possible outcome of embarking on this course of action.

“Our enquiry officers will investigate all matters such as this and identify, and prosecute, those drivers who attempt to pervert the course of justice.

“Motorists must be aware that, if caught, they will face serious consequences; in this case an eight-month prison sentence as opposed to a £60 fine and 3 penalty points.”

Source; thisisplymouth.co.uk

A taxi driver who hit two elderly pedestrians while talking on a mobile phone has walked free from court.

Cabbie Abdul Salam ploughed into Marjorie and James Robinson on a light-controlled crossing in Sunderland city centre.

Mrs Robinson was left badly bruised by the impact and needed abrasions cleaned under general anaesthetic.

Her husband suffered an injury to his knee and a suspected broken rib.
Salam, of Eden House Road, Eden Vale, admitted dangerous driving.

Prosecutor Michael Graham told Newcastle Crown Court that Salam, 48, had picked up a fare in his eight-seater Mercedes in the city at about 2pm on April 27, last year.

Mr Graham added: “The two passengers in the car became concerned because the defendant was using his mobile phone during the course of the journey. One was about to speak to him because of her concerns.”

The court heard before the worried customer could speak out Salam went through a red light and hit the couple.

Mr Graham said: “Mr and Mrs Robinson were struck by the defendant’s vehicle.

“The passengers within the vehicle speak of the defendant dropping his phone immediately on collision taking place.”

Salam was arrested but claimed in interview he had been speaking on a hands-free kit when the accident happened, though no such device was found inside the cab.

Alec Burns, defending, handed to the court a bundle of references to Salam’s previous positive character.

Mr Burns said; “I have never seen so many references for a person.

“He is of exemplary good character with not even a point on his licence until this.

“He apologises through me for what happened and has shown genuine remorse and indeed distress over the injuries he caused to these unfortunate people.”

Mr Burns said as a result of the offence Salam, who is sole provider for his wife and four children, has lost his career of 20 years.

Judge Guy Whitburn sentenced Salam to a community order for two years with 250 hours unpaid work and a four month curfew.

Salam was banned from driving for 12 months and was warned he must pass an extended test before he can get back behind the wheel.

source: http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/

New York City taxi drivers overcharged customers by a total of $8.3 million during the past 26 months by switching their meters to double the legal rate, the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission said Friday.

New York taxis cost 40 cents per one-fifth mile within city limits and 80 cents elsewhere. The commission said 35,558 of the city’s 48,300 licensed drivers illegally switched to the higher rate within city limits at least once, while 3,000 drivers did so more than 100 times. The scam affected 0.5% of the 361 million taxi trips taken in the past 26 months, the TLC said.

The TLC collected the data from global-positioning systems, which were installed in taxis in 2007 despite strong objections from drivers. The agency said that within two weeks it expects to complete installation of a system to alert riders whenever drivers switch rates. The agency said it is examining a GPS system that would automatically switch to a higher rate whenever a car left the city, eliminating the need for a manual switch.

“Some of these people could face serious charges,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on his radio show Friday.

A TLC spokesman said the agency would seek to strip some drivers of their licenses and impose fines. The TLC sent its findings to the city’s Department of Investigations.

source: http://online.wsj.com/article/