MANCHESTER

A drunk woman smashed into a taxi and then racially abused its driver.

Lisa Delaney, 38, was driving her Ford Focus last May when she collided with a black BMW taxi, Manchester magistrates court heard.

At first, Delaney was apologetic, accepting blame for the crash in a Manchester street and reassured the taxi driver she was insured.

But her ‘attitude changed’ - and, the court heard, she spat racial abuse at the Asian driver, who smelt alcohol on her breath.

Initially, the cabbie took Delaney’s keys from the ignition in fear of her drink driving again, but she retrieved them to ‘get her details’ - and drove off.

The police were called and Delaney, of Fairfield Road, Droylsden, was stopped, breathalysed and found to be twice the limit.

Appearing before magistrates at an earlier hearing, she admitted drink driving but denied the racially aggravated public order offence.

But she was then late for a trial, at which the driver and his passenger gave evidence, and Delaney was found guilty in her absence - as she arrived at court too late to take the stand.

In a statement, the taxi driver said he had lost earnings that night due to the ordeal.

He said: “She was out of order calling me names and pushing me about.”

http://goo.gl/nFrsCv
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 LONDON TAXI COMPANY

 Just days after London’s new mayor revealed plans to clamp down on the city’s toxic smog, the Chinese owner of the London Taxi Co. raised $400 million for a project to electrify its fleet of iconic black cabs.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., owner of the company that makes London’s iconic black cabs, secured $400 million through a green bond sale. The proceeds will finance the development of the TX5, a hybrid battery-powered version of the classic 1958 FX4, unveiled in October during a state visit to Britain by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“This is a landmark for us, not only in the sense of the funds raised, but also the purpose,” Frank Li, group chief financial officer, said in a telephone call with reporters. 

A growing number of investors are seeking to place money into green bonds that fund projects that promise to accelerate the shift away from polluting energy and transport fuels to renewable and clean technology. Almost $56 billion of green bonds may be issued in 2016, topping last year’s record of $46 billion, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Geely’s green bond was oversubscribed by close to 6 times, according to Angie Tang, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman at Barclays. The company has no plans to issue another in the foreseeable future, Li said.

The transaction is the first credit-enhanced green bond offering from a global auto company, according to Barclays Plc, which was a joint coordinator of the issue with Bank of China Ltd., Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Societe Generale SA. The bonds, maturing in 2021 have a 2.75 percent coupon, the lowest ever for dollar bonds in China’s auto industry, Barclays said.

In the next two weeks, Geely will move to a new factory in Coventry, England, where it will start work on producing a prototype of the TX5, said Li. Commercial sales are set to start in the fourth quarter of 2017. That’s in time for the deadline of Jan. 1, 2018, when London will require all new taxis to be zero-emission capable.

The factory will be able to produce 36,000 electric cabs a year, far exceeding the 23,000 cabs on the London’s streets today. Li said the company is already in discussions with other European “mega cities” striving to curb pollution from their taxi fleets.

http://goo.gl/qPd547
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 ULSTER

A Brocagh man has been fined a total of £800 and was disqualified from driving for three months after pleading guilty to taxi offences at Dungannon Magistrates Court.

Mr Andrew Stephen Canavan from Back Lower Road, Killycolpy, pleaded guilty and was fined £150 for using an unlicensed taxi, £200 for having no taxi driver’s licence, £100 for having no taxi operator’s licence and £350 for having no insurance.

It is understood that Canavan was spotted as he stopped outside a Cookstown nightclub on August 1 last year by a Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) enforcement officer.

He was said to have five fmeale passengers in his car, and was observed taking payment from them before the vehicle pulled over.

After the incident, further Investigation was carried out at the scene and follow up checks revealed that Mr Canavan did not hold a taxi driver’s licence or a taxi operator’s licence.

Canavan was charged under the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981, the Taxis Act (NI) 2008 and the Public Service Vehicle Regulations (NI) 1985.

Following the reduction in Stormont departments licensing is now under Department for Infrastructure.

 http://www.midulstermail.co.uk/news/mid-ulster-news/brocagh-driver-fined-800-for-taxi-offences-1-7392106#ixzz49AhdLSvU
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