BURY

A TAXI driver who viciously attacked a woman two weeks after she had given birth has been spared jail. 

Zafar Iqbal Qurashi was driving his private-hire car on June 26 last year at Woodfields Retail Park, off Peel Way, Bury, when several motorists spotted him driving across the roundabout. 

The 54 year-old, of Houghton Street, Bury, then drove across the pedestrian crossing – narrowly avoiding pedestrians. 

One of those who saw Qurashi's poor driving was Ashleigh Todd, who confronted him outside Tesco. 

Police said Ms Todd, who had recently come out of hospital after giving birth, went to speak to Qurashi and asked for his taxi badge number, 

The taxi driver then attacked Ms Todd and kicked her, causing injury to her body and back. 

Shoppers intervened and managed to halt the attack and police were called to the scene. 

Qurashi appeared at Bury Magistrates Court on October 16 and denied assault and using threatening language likely to harass others, but was found guilty on January 27 after a trial. 

Magistrates said the attack has had a significant ongoing effect on the victim, "who had suffered an injury during the assault, which took place in a busy public place in Bury". 

However, they chose not to jail Qurashi immediately. 

He was given a 16-week prison sentence suspended for a year and was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work within the next year. 

Qurashi must also pay his victim £500 and pay the courts another £280 to cover the cost of the hearing. 

After the hearing, a Bury Council spokesman said: "When he was given this sentence, we immediately revoked his licence to be a taxi driver, with the approval of Bury licensing panel’s chairman, Cllr David Jones, on the grounds of public safety." 

Cllr Jones said the ban came in on the same day that the court case concluded due to the severity of the offence. 

He added that, in his role as panel chairman, he had signed off orders only three times in as many years. 

"In cases as serious as this, we don't wait six weeks before considering whether a driver should be prevented from working as a taxi driver," added Cllr Jones. 

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/14246431.Taxi_driver_who_attacked_woman_outside_Tesco_in_Bury_two_weeks_after_she_gave_birth_loses_job_but_is_spared_jail/

------------------------------------------------------------------

Taxi enforcement action operation – Milton Keynes

Monday 01 February 2016, 10:49am

Thames Valley Police officers worked with licensing officers from Milton Keynes Council to carry out checks on taxi drivers on an evening of positive enforcement action on Wednesday (27/1).

26 vehicles were stopped and checked on the roads of Milton Keynes LPA during Operation Charlie, which targeted private hire vehicles and Hackney carriages that had suspected defects/breaches.

The aim of the operation was to proactively tackle vehicle defects found among taxis in the city.

As a result of the operation by the Roads Policing Unit:

 16 vehicles were directed to the council’s testing centre for a full mechanical examination.

 Of these 16, one vehicle passed the mechanical examination with no faults.

 One vehicle was given an advisory notice to fix defects within 21days (this vehicle is allowed to remain active as a private hire vehicle during this 21-day period).

 The other 14 vehicles were immediately suspended from being used as private hire vehicles until the defects were rectified.

    Of the 16 vehicles tested:
        10 were licensed by Milton Keynes of which eight failed.

        Four were licensed South Northants District Council of which three failed.

        Two were licensed by Aylesbury Vale District Council of which one failed.

    A further 10 vehicles were stopped and checked at the roadside. Of these 10, three were suspended from being used as private hire vehicles at the roadside until the defects were fixed and presented for examination. A further six vehicles were checked at the roadside and found to be all in order. One vehicle was sent to the testing station the following day.

This shows that, out of the 26 vehicles stopped for possibly being defective, six were referred to the council’s testing station, two were rectified at the roadside and eight were allowed to continue without any concerns.

The defects included defective tyres, defective lights, damage to bodywork with risk of causing injury, oil leaks, worn shock absorbers, one vehicle had a loose passenger door.

One private hire vehicle was found to have 10 separate defects during the examination. This vehicle was licensed by South Northants District Council.

One driver is being investigated in relation to whether they hold the correct licence to act in the capacity of a private hire driver. It was later confirmed that everything was in order.

PS Simon Hills said: “The aim of the Roads Policing Unit is to ensure that people can use the roads without fear of injury.”

“It is vital that people have absolute confidence in the safety of private hire vehicles and Hackney taxis, and this operation was designed to highlight those who do not maintain their vehicles.

“It also supports the many drivers in the City who provide a professional service in well maintained taxis.

“We are disappointed that the majority of private hire vehicles were carrying defects so serious the vehicles were suspended from being used in the private hire trade.

“We will continue to work with our partners at Milton Keynes Council to ensure the safety of the public when using these services.”

Cllr Catriona Morris, chairman of the council’s Regulatory and Licensing Committees, said: “These routine council operations, in partnership with Thames Valley Police, are to ensure the safety of residents and visitors to Milton Keynes.”

If you have information relating to offenders you can call the police non-emergency number 101 or, anonymously, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Media Team
(01865) 846699

---------------------------------------------
GUILDFORD

Taxi drivers will appeal the dismissal at crown court but changes would see rebranding of vehicles and driver exams 

Changes to the colour of Guildford’s taxis are set to go ahead, despite being widely objected to by drivers.

David Williams-Wynn, chairman of the Guildford Hackney Association (GHA), took his appeal against the Guildford Borough Council policy changes, which were agreed last year, before magistrates in Redhill on Tuesday January 26, but the case was dismissed.

Taxi drivers met on Wednesday January 27 and decided to continue to fight against the new policy and take the dismissal appeal to crown court.

Mark Rostron, GHA secretary who supported the legal challenge, said the court dismissed the first appeal case because as Mr Williams-Wynn was not applying for a new licence, he could not appeal against policy changes at the a magistrate court, and that a proper course of action would be judicial review.

The council has described the new livery of Guildford taxis as its "corporate teal colour", and justified the change by saying they will now be "easier to identify".

Councillor Graham Ellwood, lead councillor for licensing and community safety, said: "Our policy is that all taxis must be liveried in our corporate teal colour thus clearly being recognised across the borough.

"This will create a strong local identity for the borough’s taxis and increase public confidence.

"Any new taxi must be liveried, and currently licensed vehicles have until the 1 January 2018 to become compliant.

"To encourage early take up of the colour change, we have offered to contribute 25% of the cost until 9 July 2016.

"We are keen to work with taxi drivers to make the livery process straightforward and have been working with livery providers and material suppliers."

The total cost to wrap the cars in the new livery is estimated to be £1,250.

The new policy requires that drivers complete a BTEC Level 2 Certificate and a requirement to provide disabled access has been removed, although drivers will be encouraged to provide wheelchair-enabled vehicles through a 50% reduction in the licence fee.

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/guildfords-taxis-become-corporate-teal-10797663