A Shrewsbury taxi driver who admitted indecently assaulting two young girls more than 20 years ago has been jailed for five years.

Tommasso Picardo was arrested after one of the girls, now an adult who cannot be named for legal reasons, went to police in February last year.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard she told police the 56-year-old, of Crewe Street, had sexually assaulted her in the summer of 1995.

Mr Anthony Potter, prosecuting, said Picardo initially told police: “I wholeheartedly deny these allegations.”

But in a second interview last month, he told officers he had also assaulted another girl at the same time as the assault on the first victim in 1995.

Picardo had pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault at a previous court hearing and appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced.

Judge Robin Onions told him: “It is impossible to understand why you behaved the way you did. You had not done it before and have not done it since.”

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2016/03/24/jailed-shrewsbury-taxi-driver-indecently-assaulted-young-girls/
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 West Bromwich.

 Sandwell’s first bus lane cameras will be installed to capture motorists using lanes illegally through West Bromwich.

But private hire taxi drivers have hit out the move saying it causes ‘discrimination’ between cab drivers as Hackney Carriages will still be allowed to use the lane.

Council officials want to enforce a ban on the stretch of New Street outside Sandwell College’s Central Sixth campus with CCTV cameras.

Around 3,000 cars have been using New Street, past Sandwell College’s Central Sixth campus.

Sandwell Council wants to enforce a ban already in place and say the cameras will deter motorists flouting the ban.

The new proposal will see only Hackney Carriages allowed through the zone on New Street, in a move cabinet member for highways and environment councillor Maria Crompton has described as ‘best for public safety’.

Congestion

She said: “I believe that Hackney Carriages entering the bus only street can do so without significantly increasing the number of cars that add to the congestion, which isn’t the case for private hire vehicles.

“There are fewer Hackney Carriages in comparison, and private hire vehicles have the advantage of a pre-booking system where they can pick up customers from any point, rather than use the taxi ranks assigned for Hackney Carriages.

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2016/03/24/sandwell-taxi-drivers-hit-out-at-bus-lane-cameras/
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 A PENSIONER who fraudulently claimed more than £50,000 in benefits “to make ends meet” while working as a taxi driver has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

Grandfather David Rivett, 77, dishonestly claimed pension credit and housing and council tax benefits for around ten years from 2005, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor, Richard Woolfall, said Rivett, of Westfield Court, Burley, Leeds, originally claimed for the benefits in early 2005 when he stated he was single and unemployed.

Mr Woolfall said in April 2005, Rivett applied for a taxi licence and renewed that licence every year until 2014.

Rivett worked as a private hire driver until 2015 when he failed his medical and was no longer able to continue.

Father-of-four Rivett admitted two charges of failing to notify a change in circumstances affecting entitlement to social security benefits.

Mitigating Genan Hashim, said: “He had very little income coming in from his taxi driver services. This is not a man who has lived a luxurious lifestyle as a result of this.

“He lives alone in a two-bedroom flat. He didn’t have holidays. He has very little in the way of savings. I’m told this was just to make ends meet.”

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/crime/leeds-oap-taxi-driver-in-51-000-benefit-fraud-1-7815639#ixzz43tLFxtpf
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 Brussels

 The taxi driver who drove the Brussels suicide bombers to the airport was not allowed to touch their explosives-laden bags and they sat in silence during the journey, Belgian newspaper DH reported citing unidentified sources.

Brahim El Bakraoui and two other men suspected of carrying out the attack on Tuesday travelled from the Brussels district of Schaerbeek to the airport.

The airport bombs and a suicide bombing at Maelbeek metro station in the city centre, which prosecutors said was carried out by El Bakraoui's brother Khalid, killed at least 31 people and injured 270.

A man wearing a hat and light-coloured jacket did chat with the taxi driver, talking about his anger towards the United States and how he disagreed with some of its actions, DH said.

A bespectacled man wearing a cream jacket and black hat ran out of the airport terminal, federal prosecutors said, before a third suitcase bomb exploded in the departures area as bomb disposal experts were clearing the area, causing no casualties.

The man, captured on film with the suicide bombers, is being sought by police.

DH said the taxi driver smelled ammonia during the journey and when he dropped the men off at the airport noticed their bags had traces of white powder on them.

He heard about the explosions while driving his next passenger and immediately went to the police, it said.

On Wednesday, DH reported that a mix-up by a Brussels taxi dispatcher meant a small car was sent to pick up the bombers instead of the minivan they had ordered and the passengers were forced to leave one bag behind. Police later found a nail bomb in an apartment in Schaerbeek.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-belgium-blast-taxi-idUKKCN0WQ1JZ
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 HERTFORDSHIRE

A 21-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by the driver of a silver taxi after being picked up from Market Place in Hitchin and dropped off in Letchworth between 2.30am and 4am on Sunday, March 20.

In a second assault police believe is linked, a 33-year-old woman got into a taxi near The Drapers Arms pub in Stevenage High Street between 12.05am and 12.20am on Saturday, March 19, and was allegedly sexually assaulted by the driver during the journey.

Det Con Kirsty Rusbridge, from the Herts police sexual offences investigation team, said: “I fully appreciate that these incidents will, understandably, cause concern and I would like to reassure people that a full investigation is under way.

“I would appeal to anyone who may have any information which could assist our enquiries to please come forward.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to remind people to remain vigilant when out and about. Keep the number of a reputable taxi firm saved in your phone and try and pre-book to ensure that the driver is genuine. Avoid travelling alone if possible and make sure that the driver has a valid taxi license on display.”

Anyone with information should contact DC Rusbridge on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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USA, Verifone


Curb, the app formerly known as Taxi Magic, is getting a fresh coat of paint and some unique features. The relaunch comes under its new owner, Verifone Systems, a public company based in San Jose that operates the entertainment and payment systems in about half of New York City's yellow and green taxis. When it goes live next month, Curb will allow users to hail and pay for a metered taxi ride, as well as —€” for the first time ever —€” book a yellow cab in advance. The app is re-launching in New York City, but is already available in Chicago and Boston. Verifone says it hopes to eventually bring Curb to all 60 cities in which the company operates across the US.

Verifone's app Way2Ride, which debuted in September 2015, will be folded into Curb and eventually phased out, said Jason Gross, head of product and marketing for the company. There will be a $1.95 fee every time you use the app to book a taxi. Riders can rate their drivers, just like with Uber. And drivers will get notices about possible trips through the systems already installed in their taxis.

Starting out, Curb will only be compatible with the 14,000 yellow and green cabs that use Verifone's credit card machines and in-taxi entertainment systems, but Gross said that by summer, the app should work in every yellow and green cab in the city under an agreement with Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT), the city's other taxi technology company.

"If you've got that 8AM flight tomorrow morning and you need a cab at 6, it's going to be there waiting for you," Gross said of Curb's pre-arrangement feature. "It's raising the level of service that yellow and green cabs can provide."

http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/23/11294758/curb-app-taxi-hail-uber-nyc-verifone

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CROYDEN


 A POLICE officer has been ordered to pay more than £4,000 after a jury found her guilty of jumping a taxi without paying in Croydon.

PC Nicola Elston, 28, a serving Metropolitan Police officer attached to Lambeth borough, was found guilty today following a three-day trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The jury found her guilty of making off without payment of a taxi fare in Croydon on June 27, but not guilty of assault. She had pleaded not guilty to both offences.

PC Elston was sentenced to a £3,150 fine and £1,000 costs.

A Met spokesman said the officer remains restricted. "Now that the cr iminal proceedings have been completed we will be able to complete our misconduct process," he said.

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NATIONAL

Taxis are to be given a legal duty to carry wheelchair-using passengers - 20 years after the law was first approved by Parliament.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said he aimed to implement anti-discrimination measures by the end of the year after bowing to pressure to end two decades of inaction.

The move came hours before the publication of a House of Lords report about disability which was expected to strongly criticise his failure to commit to the measure.

Rights for guide dog and wheelchair users not to be refused access to taxis and other private hire vehicles were first put into legislation in the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.

But only the guide dog sections were ever brought into force, despite the wheelchair provisions being included in the Equality Act of 2010.

They say a taxi must carry a passenger in their chair at no extra charge and "take such steps as are necessary to ensure that the passenger is carried in safety and reasonable comfort".

Drivers must also transport the wheelchair if the passenger wants to travel in a passenger seat and " give the passenger such mobility assistance as is reasonably required".

In evidence to the Lords committee examining the impact of the Equality Act on disabled people, Mr Jones had declined to commit to the move.

He said the Government wanted to avoid unnecessary regulation on business and "need to consider whether there are alternative ways of improving driver behaviour and the service the public receives before implementing legislation" but that he was " quite supportive of the basic principle".

The committee found his reasoning "entirely unconvincing".

The move will be welcomed by disability campaigners but doubts will remain about the enforcement of the rules as many guide dog owners complain that they are still refused by some drivers.

Mr Jones said: "Everyone has the right to access public transport. We have made progress but there is a long way to go before there is equal access.

"We are in the process of strengthening the law, placing a clear duty on taxi drivers to assist passengers with wheelchairs and making it a criminal offence to charge them extra.

"We are also working with transport operators to improve access to buses and train stations across the country and will continue to work with disability groups and local authorities as we make further improvements."

Baroness Deech, who chaired the committee that examined the Act, said: "I am very pleased that the imminent issue of our report, in which they must have realised they were going to be severely criticised, has jolted them into action.

"But I will only be satisfied when I see it actually happen.

"Our report says that taxi drivers should be trained and that local authorities should not give them licences unless they comply with the terms of the Equality Act.

"If they breach it they should be sanctioned."