Wirral.

Former teacher beat up taxi driver in drunken frenzy

John Randall, 36, repeatedly punched taxi driver fracturing his eye socket

An emergency 999 operator listened to a taxi driver’s screams as he was beaten up by a drunken passenger.

James Furlong picked up ex-teacher John Randall in Bromborough Village, Wirral , at 7.15pm on April 4 and Randall, clutching a Chinese takeaway, asked him to take him to Little Sutton.

Kim Egerton, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Randall was drunk and his speech was slurred so Mr Furlong asked him for £10 in advance.

As they were driving along the A41 Randall began waving his arms around and making “whooping noises”.

She said his “attitude changed” and he started asking what the driver’s name was but when Mr Furlong, 44, wouldn’t say he told him: “I will find out who you are.”

She said he stopped the taxi, gave him his £10 back and told him to get out but he wouldn’t so he called 999.

Randall then started shouting abuse at him, saying he was going to “f*** him”.

Ms Egerton, said: “Mr Furlong pointed out the operator would be able to hear him but that didn’t stop him.”

Randall, 36, then punched him repeatedly in the face and ran off, leaving his takeaway behind and Mr Furlong with a fractured eye socket.

He was arrested a month later after being identified by CCTV from the takeaway but said it the driver who was the aggressor and had given him a split lip.

Randall, of Chester Road, Ellesmere Port, later pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

Keith Sutton, defending, said: “He had difficulty coming to terms with the fact that he had acted so out of character. Once he heard the evidence it was very clear what he had done and he abandoned his poor recollection.”

He said he was disgusted with his behaviour and expressed his sincere apologies.

Randall had previously worked as a teacher and was considering going back into the job but Mr Sutton accepted his conviction made that “problematic”.

Judge Brian Lewis, jailed Randall for eight months, saying: “The 999 operator heard you threatening the complainant in abusive and obscene language. He heard Mr Furlong’s screams when he was being hit.

“Mr Furlong was subjected to a quite disgraceful, unprovoked and sustained attack. The sentence must therefore be imprisonment.”
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Liverpool Wi-Fi

Council bosses in Liverpool are to decide whether or not to roll out mobile WiFi in the city's black cabs.

A meeting of the licensing committee is taking place today (Thurs) where the decision will be made.

The technology to fit the Hackney cabs with WiFi has been pioneered by 'Ubiquitous' - a company in London which has already seen success in other cities around the UK.

Marketing Director, Sarah Prideman, said: "We're now in a world where people expect to be able to be online everywhere. One of the frustrations about being in a busy city is that it's actually quite hard to find a stable connection.

"You can get it in restaurants, and shops, but when you're actually transiting around the city it is difficult to get connected.

"One of the things we asked people - and we asked thousands - was are you likely to look for a taxi that has this service, and overwhelmingly they said yes. So, I do think it will be a positive thing and I do thing it'll be a positive thing for drivers if they have a sign in their window that says they offer WiFi."
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Bedford.

Travel Safer taxi passenger app launched by Bedford man

The app "provides accountability" to both passengers and drivers

A man whose friend was sexually assaulted by an unlicensed cab driver has developed a mobile phone app to track the route of taxis and minicabs.

Anthony Price, from Bedford, says his free Travel Safer app allows the user to record the registration number of the vehicle they are getting into.

Their journey is then traceable and can also be followed on social media.

Bedfordshire Police said they welcomed safety initiatives but warned people to be careful what they share online.

Mr Price said in 2005 a friend had unknowingly got into an unlicensed vehicle in Peterborough and was sexually assaulted.

She was not able to get the registration details after the attack and the offender was never traced.

'Privacy policy'
"We thought there must be a way to prevent it happening again but at that time the technology didn't exist," he said.

"As soon as technology allowed, we went to the drawing board; now phones have got GPS it's a lot easier to track [people]."

The app captures the user's time and location of check-in and posts the vehicle details to the user's Facebook timeline.

All the passenger's social media "friends" can see where they are so Mr Price said the app was subject to "the person's own privacy policy".

"They can opt out of it being posted on social media, but the journey is still traceable," he said.

"Not only does [it] give friends and family reassurance their loved one is traceable, it provides accountability to both passengers and drivers of taxi or private-hire vehicles," he said.

Mr Price said any profits made from a "pro" version of the app, which allows passengers to check out of a vehicle and add an image, would go to rape victim charities.