ADUR

A first rise in taxi fares for seven and a half years was rejected by councillors after a passionate debate from divided drivers on Monday.

Supporters of the increase for Adur taxi drivers argued their proposals would help drivers cope with the cost of living.

But critics at the meeting of Adur District Council’s licensing committee argued the rise would be ‘greed-driven commercial suicide’.

Proposing the rise Jonathan Campfield, chairman of Adur Hackney Licensed Drivers, said: “Seven and a half years is a long time to wait for a fare rise, being one of the most expensive places in the country to live. “Some drivers are paying £800 or £900 on rent.”

The current maximum tariff is £2.80 for the first 600 yards or two minutes, 44 seconds of the journey. An extra 20p is charged for subsequent distances of 176 yards, or 48 seconds.

Under the proposed charges, the initial 200 yards, or 48 seconds, would cost £3, with 20p extra for each subsequent 150 yards, or 36 seconds.

An additional £1 surcharge between 10pm and 6am on any day, and all day on Sundays and bank holidays, would be continued but would be introduced at 9pm.

Hourly waiting times would rise from £16.80 to £20.

The proposals came after two previous rejected increases, in 2011 and 2014.

The increase was put to councillors after a postal ballot of 78 taxi drivers.

A total of 35 responded, with 26 for and nine against.

Driver Sean Ridley, who opposed the plans, said they would make Adur taxis the most expensive in Sussex.

He said: “We are near the top of the tariff league and to put us further and dearest in Sussex shows an inherent disrespect, not for the trade, but for the customer, the public, the electorate and charge payers.”

Mr Ridley added that increasing the current charges, which put Adur 27th highest in the country alongside 11 other authorities, would be ‘greed-driven, commercial suicide’.

But Mr Campfield said the fees only represented a rise of around 50p on a £5 fare and £1 on a £10 cost.

He argued that the increase would help young drivers who had families and rent to pay, with Adur an expensive area to live.

He noted how some drivers had significant weekly costs of around £450, with costs of repairing vehicles spiking significantly.

He said Hackey drivers were disadvantaged, as the private hire industry was free to charge what it liked.

But councillors questioned why a significant reduction in tariff yardages, coupled with the higher prices, was needed.

While many agreed with aspects of the proposals, such as waiting time increases, they could not accept the application as a whole.

The rise was rejected by five votes to one, with one abstention.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Campfield said he was ‘incredibly disappointed’ and planned to submit an alternative application.

He suggested the job was not viable under the current rates, unless drivers worked up to 70-hour weeks to earn a living.

Mr Ridley called the decision a ‘triumph for common sense’ because customers were struggling financially.

http://www.worthingherald.co.uk/news/local/fare-deal-for-adur-taxi-drivers-rejected-1-7261541?

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 BIRMINGHAM

 A bogus taxi driver has received a suspended jail sentence after being caught touting for fares in Broad Street during a police operation.

Babu Elahi, 53, was spotted in a VW Passat liveried with door stickers and bumper plates suggesting it was a licensed private hire vehicle.

Yet when police moved in to speak to the driver on October 17 last year he raced off - carrying two rear seat passengers.

Elahi, from Bevington Road in Aston , drove through no entry signs and broke the speed limit in a bid to escape a patrol car but was arrested when he pulled up outside Ladywood Police Station.

He initially claimed his taxi ID badge was at home, but checks showed his Passat was not registered as a private hire car and the council taxi plate actually belonged to his brother.

In interview, unemployed Elahi claimed he had only ever driven a friend into Broad Street once, but Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras proved his Passat regularly cruised Broad Street on weekends.

He admitted dangerous driving, fraud by false representation, and driving without the relevant insurance when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court.

He was given a four-year jail term, suspended for two years, ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the community, and banned from driving for 12 months.

PC Dave Humpherson leads a West Midlands Police campaign − codenamed Operation Amethyst − that sees a team of specially trained officers going undercover to pose as customers on the lookout for drivers breaking the rules.

Last year, up to 100 drivers were prosecuted and banned from the roads or given six penalty points, with fines approaching £2,000.

PC Humpherson said: “Most taxi drivers operate legally and are earning an honest living − but there are people falsely purporting to be taxi drivers in the hope of making some extra cash. And if anything untoward should happen it can be challenging to trace offenders as there’s no audit trail and no booking details or phone numbers to follow up.

“Passengers accepting lifts from private hire drivers plying for business aren’t insured in the event of being injured in an accident; only Hackney Carriage vehicles can take on-street fares and passengers can leave themselves vulnerable at the hands of bogus cabbies.

“As soon as people set foot in un-booked vehicles and take the journey, the insurance is nullified − and there are also some awful examples of people being overcharged. One of the worst I’ve seen was a man charged £25 for a two mile journey.”

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/broad-street-bogus-taxi-driver-11009723?

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 A WORCESTER taxi driver caught with cocaine worth up to £200,000 in his cab has been jailed for six years.

Secret drug addict Saheed Iqbal, of Carlisle Road, Ronkswood, was acting as a courier and using his taxi to ferry drugs into the city to pay off a £10,000 debt to his dealers, Worcester Crown Court was told.

The 37-year-old had already used all of his family savings and taken out loans to fund the habit he had hidden from his family until his arrest on November 13, last year, the court heard.

Simon Phillips, prosecuting, told the court Iqbal was stopped by police in Conway, off Tolladine Road at around 3pm after he was seen driving erratically. They saw a passenger get into the cab and get out again a short distance later which made them suspicious. They searched the taxi and found one kilo of cocaine hidden in a compartment. It had a purity of 78 percent and was worth between £70,000 and £100,000 but could have been cut to produce the usual street level purity of 39 per cent, which would have increased its value to between £140,000 and £200,000.

Iqbal, who pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply, said he had not handled the drugs himself but had fetched them from Birmingham where they were put into the car by someone else. When he arrived in Worcester, they were taken out by another person and he was only involved as a courier. He admitted carrying out the trip once or twice a week for up to two months before his arrest.

Jason Patel, defending, handed in a number of references and said Iqbal, who had no previous convictions. was part of a strong Pakistani community in the city. He had brought shame on his extended family, Mr Patel said, after he got into financial difficulties and started using cocaine.

"The addiction took over and he used all the family savings," Mr Patel said. "He ended up owing £10,000 to his dealer and he went on to carry these drugs though he was unaware of the quantity."

http://goo.gl/COu4C8

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PLYMOUTH

A Woman has admitted sexually assaulting a male taxi driver.

Prolific offender Gemma Pinkerton, aged 25, pleaded guilty to indecently touching him on July 28 last year.

Homeless Pinkerton, who has a history of drug abuse, changed her plea as she faced a trial at Plymouth Crown Court.

Appearing over videolink from prison, she continues to deny blackmail, in demanding £20 with menaces. That charge will lie on the file.

Notorious troublemaker Pinkerton, of no fixed address, has already admitted common assault, making off without payment and criminal damage as part of the same incident.

Judge Ian Lawrie remanded her in custody for sentence on April 11 for a probation report to be prepared.

A previous trial was adjourned at the end of January because Pinkerton was not in a fit emotional state to face the jury.

Pinkerton was caught having sex with a different man in Devonport Park only two days after the sexual assault.

Shocked onlookers including a six-year-old child saw them having sexual intercourse.

Pinkerton was handed a suspended prison sentence in September for outraging public decency.

That sentence was quickly activated when she breached her Anti-Social Behaviour Order by shouting and swearing at people in the street. She was locked up for 182 days, about six months, for all offences.

Pinkerton, who has used drugs in the past, has a criminal record going back to when she was a youth. She has been convicted of robbery, violence and dishonesty.

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Woman-admits-sexual-assault-male-taxi-driver/story-28882545-detail/story.html?

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 Egyptian security forces fired a tear gas canister Tuesday to disperse taxi drivers who are blocking a major road in the capital, Cairo, to protest Uber and other car-hailing applications, witnesses said.

The drivers stood in a roundabout on Gameat el-Dowal street after the canister was fired at them when they left their cars, witness Lamia el-Etriby and taxi drivers at the protest said. They had blocked all but one lane, causing a major traffic jam as police vehicles arrived on the scene.

"We are not leaving until an official comes and gives us his word that all these apps will be shut down in Egypt," said Sherif Ali, a taxi driver and one of the protest organizers.

Taxi drivers have been protesting Uber's presence in the country in recent weeks. The application has very rapidly become popular in Cairo, a city of 20 million people with almost-constant traffic jams.

Egyptian clients say they prefer the dependability of the app, complaining that normal taxi drivers often tamper with their meters or pretend the meter is broken in order to overcharge them. They also appreciate the safety provided by the app, especially for female passengers at night who fear being sexually harassed by drivers.

Taxi drivers have complained that Uber drivers have an unfair advantage because they do not have to pay the same kind of taxes or licensing fees. Domestic newspapers have published unconfirmed reports of officials saying Uber and Careem — another car-hailing app — were violating Egyptian law.

Uber Egypt General Manager Anthony el-Khoury told The Associated Press that company executives plan to meet with government officials this week to find solutions to this standoff and ways to coexist. David Plouffe, Uber's chief adviser and a member of the board of directors, is in Egypt this week and will be taking part in the talks.

El-Khoury told AP that Uber drivers do pay Egyptian taxes through an indirect route. The company only hires drivers who are licensed through private limousine or car rental companies, which do pay their own corporate taxes, he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/witness-police-tear-gas-taxi-drivers-protesting-uber-37483256

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