A former taxi driver who said he was penniless and claimed £51,000 in benefits has been jailed after it emerged he had £1.2m in savings.
Richard Albert Cocks, 65, from Jersey, who lived in a government-funded flat, pleaded not guilty to fraud offences and declared he had no money in any bank accounts.
Cocks's defending lawyer said in mitigation that he had saved every penny he had.
He was jailed for four years.
Prosecuting, Richard Pedley said Cocks arranged to get his income payments in cash to hide his bank accounts.
He said Cocks was very unapologetic when confronted with evidence of his fraud, and felt betrayed by the banks for disclosing the information.
James Bell, defending, said Cocks had worked hard all his life, saved hard, and lived a modest life. He had never bought property, married, had children or gone on holiday.
He was ordered to pay back £51,000 to the social security department, and the Crown's legal costs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-28294102
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Taxi numbers in Cambridge could be capped in response to congestion and violence concerns
A limit could be put on the number of hackney carriage taxis in Cambridge amid fears about congestion on the city’s streets.
Action is set to be taken by the city council in response to complaints about long queues of vehicles at ranks and warnings that competition between cabbies could boil over into violence.
On Monday the licensing committee is recommended to approve the first steps towards carrying out a survey to establish whether there is no significant unmet demand for more hackney carriages – the only circumstances under which the council can consider capping the number of licences it issues.
Cllr Jeremy Benstead, who chairs the panel, said: “We think it’s worth looking into this again and we are open-minded about it.
“If we have too many taxis all going to the same place, it can cause friction.”
There are currently 308 hackney carriages vying for trade in Cambridge.
This put numbers of the vehicles – which can be flagged down in the street or hired at a rank – at an all-time high.
They are up against 180 private hire vehicles, which cannot be regulated by the council, and another 800 registered in south Cambridgeshire.
Concerns have been expressed about the impact on highway safety of ‘over-ranking’ and taxi drivers have complained they have been forced to work ever longer hours.
A study commissioned by the council last year estimated that hackney carriage drivers now spent 51 per cent of their working time waiting, rather than on a job.
David Wratten, the chairman of trade association Cambridge City Licensed Taxis, welcomed the move.
He said: “We should put a cap on numbers – we need sensible management involving the councils and the trade. Drivers are having to work longer hours to make money.”
A cap on the number of hackney carriages was last in force in 1995, when there were 120 hackney carriages.
The committee is also recommended to approve an average increase of 2.2 per cent in hackney carriage fares, slightly lower than the 2.5 per cent rise requested by the trade.
There was no across-the-board fare increase last year in response to the economic downturn.
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