EDINBURGH

A BOGUS taxi driver allegedly sexually assaulted a passenger while he was on the phone to his girlfriend, a court has heard.

Shabir Shaikh is said to have picked up the drunk woman in Edinburgh city centre before driving her to a secluded layby on the outskirts of the city where he attempted to grope her.


Shaikh, from Edinburgh, denies the alleged sex attack near to the Hillend ski centre in April last year.

The woman told a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court that Shaikh suddenly stopped his attack on her to answer a phone call from his girlfriend.

The 32-year-old bank worker told the court that she feared she would be “raped and murdered” after realising the car she had got into was not a taxi.

The alleged victim told the court she had been out in Edinburgh city centre with two friends celebrating a birthday.

The group had been at the capital’s Cavendish nightspot before heading to the George Street bar Why Not?

At the end of the night, the woman decided to head home through the Grassmarket area where she said she encountered 32-year-old Shaikh sitting in his car.

She said: “I had decided not to stay with my friend [who lives in Edinburgh] as I just wanted to get home.

“I was slowly staggering a bit and smoking and someone asked out of a car window if they could have a cigarette.

“I said ‘no problem’ and handed it over. He asked where I was going and I said ‘I’m heading home’ and he then said ‘I’ll take you home’. I stupidly accepted and assumed he was a taxi.

“I told him the town I live in but not sure if I told him my full address.”

The woman said she got into the front passenger seat and the pair headed to the south of the city, but alarm bells began to ring when the driver failed to take any of the exits.

She said: “When he didn’t take the junction to get on the bypass I realised something wasn’t right. He carried on towards the ski slope and I asked him a number of times to turn round.



“I remember passing the Flottertsone Inn before he pulled into a layby – it was really dark and there was no lighting.

“Before the layby I was worried about what he was going to do with me. Then when we pulled over I thought it was very possible I could be raped and murdered.”

Police officers were said to have later picked the woman up as she stood waiting in the dark on the A702 city bypass at around 4.30am.

The trial continues this week.

Shaikh denies abducting the woman while posing as a taxi driver, detaining her and assaulting her near Hillend, Edinburgh, on April 12 last year.

http://goo.gl/LJW5lj
----------------------------------------
 SWINDON

 A man had to be taken to the Great Western Hospital after he was hit by what he believes was a taxi.

The incident happened on Monday, March 28 at around 2.50am when the man was crossing the road at the roundabout near Jury's Inn and Halfords when he was struck by the vehicle.

Having described the incident to police it is believed the vehicle was a taxi, but it drove off after hitting him. The man suffered injuries to his leg and shoulder and was taken to hospital. Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact police on 101.

http://goo.gl/xTJZQF

---------------------------------------
LONDON


Gett, a global ride-hailing service that started in Israel and is a chief rival to Uber, has offered to buy Radio Taxis in a move that would bring Gett’s London car fleet to 11,500, a number the company says amounts to half of all licensed taxis in the city.

If successful, the acquisition would make Gett the largest black cab service in London, the company said in an e-mailed statement Thursday.

“We are working hard to consolidate our claim to be the best and biggest black car company in London and in the U.K. in general,” Nahshon Davidai, chief marketing officer, said in an interview, declining to comment on whether Gett planned further acquisitions in the near future. He added that the company’s focus remained global.

The deal would see Gett buying Radio Taxis’ London-based parent company, Mountview House Group, which also owns taxi brands Xeta and One Transport. The firm did not give a figure for the cash deal, which is subject to shareholder approval.

Gett’s revenue grew by 300 percent in 2015 and is projected to reach $500 million globally this year, according to the statement. The company is seeking to raise as much as $400 million in a private funding round as competition gets tougher, according to people familiar to the matter.

Top rival Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick said this week that the company was generating $1 billion in annual profit from its 30 largest cities of service, allowing it to invest more in markets such as China.

http://goo.gl/TzZTPR