A woman is continuing to fight for life in hospital after she was hit by a taxi in Salford.
Police are appealing for witnesses following the collision which took place on Lower Broughton Road, at the junction of Frederick Road, on Friday, November 18.
A green Skoda Octavia private hire taxi collided with the 38-year-old woman at about 11.50pm.
The woman was taken to hospital in an ambulance and is being treated for a serious head injury.
She remains in hospital in a life-threatening condition.
The taxi driver did not suffer any injuries.
-----------------------------------------------------------
MANCHESTER
A woman who alleges she was raped in a practice room at the Royal Northern College of Musicwas ‘carried’ in and out of a taxi by the man accused of attacking her, a court heard.
In a Manchester Crown Court trial it is alleged that after raping the woman in the early hours, after an event at the prestigious music school, Jacek Serafin, 29, of Cheapside, Manchester took her back to his city centre flat to continue the assault.
The music student denies a series of rape and sex assault charges in a Manchester Crown Court trial where prosecutors say the woman was too intoxicated to consent, although the victim only remembers having two or three drinks.
Cab driver Abdihassis Segulle told court he picked up a man and a woman, said to be Mr Serafin and the complainant, from the Royal Northern College of Music in September 2014.
He said the silent woman looked like was ‘in a coma’. But later, cross-examined by Mr Serafin’s barrister, Sara Haq, he added that he did not feel she was under any kind of threat, and that she seemed asleep rather than drunk.
“You would think this person’s taking care of her, he’s not left her on the street, so not for one moment did I think something sinister was happening”, Mr Segulle said.
However earlier in his evidence, questioned by Vanessa Thomson, defending, Mr Segulle told court that when police contacted him two weeks later, he knew it was about that early hours fare.
“The incident stuck in my mind because it was the only fare where there would be a question mark”, he said. “All the other fares I have taken in that period were just normal - this one, it was bit suspicious.”
--------------------------------------------------
CARDIFF
A jury has retired to consider its verdicts in the trial of an Asian taxi driver accused of blackmailing Muslim women he met on a dating website.
Farhan Mirza, 38, is accused of targeting three women, secretly filming them and threatening to publish the videos unless they gave him money and gifts.
Mirza is accused of voyeurism, blackmail, theft and fraud - including pretending to be a doctor - in order to commit a string of offences over a three-year period.
Cardiff Crown Court has heard he met one of the women through family and two others on the Asian dating website shaadi.com.
------------------------------------------------------
WILTSHIRE
TAXI drivers are up in arms after a busy city rank was closed until Christmas with no warning yesterday.
Wiltshire Council has shut the four-car mini rank outside Chick-O-Land in New Canal for coach companies to drop off older passengers to the Christmas market.
Christopher Allen said that with only 30 taxi slots in the city, losing four would have a big impact on the more than 300 cab drivers operating in Salisbury.
He said: "We are shocked and up in arms at what has happened.
"When you have got that amount of taxis and only 30 spaces, it causes a lot of problems.
"Wiltshire Council do this all the time, and they just do not seem to care.
"They are meant to give us two weeks warning, but the signs only went up this morning."
The closure runs until December 18.
Mr Allen, 47, claimed that Wiltshire Council had told him it could do what it liked, and did not have to explain the law.
He said: "We pay a lot of money for the plates on our vehicles and with the increase in taxis it is hard enough.
"It is shocking how the council treat us in this manner."
Fellow cabbie Ian Lamberth said taxis used the rank all year round, and the closure would affect older passengers.
"They will be seriously confused if they come to the mini rank and we are not there to help them with their bags," he said.
"A lot of people depend on us."
Drivers also raised safety concerns over the new drop-off point, with passengers having to step off coaches into New Canal.
Wiltshire Council has been approached for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------
Three taxis have been taken off the road after safety checks in Harrogate.
Defects were found on the vehicles during an operation involving officers from North Yorkshire Police, Harrogate Borough Council, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and HM Revenue and Customs.
From the 25 taxis checked, 18 vehicles underwent full mechanical examinations and taxation officers checked drivers to make sure they were properly licensed.
The three taxis were given immediate prohibition notices, with one of them being clamped by officers from the DVSA because of defects relating to tyres, brakes and electrical faults.
One other vehicle was given a delayed prohibition notice for a brake defect, giving the owner seven days to rectify the fault.
A number of drivers were advised in relation to minor vehicle defects and several drivers were also warned by taxi inspectors about breaches of taxi licensing rules.
Traffic Sergeant Andy Morton, of North Yorkshire Police's Roads Policing Group, said: "We have now been conducting these operations periodically for the last three years in an effort to improve safety for taxi customers.
"Previous years' operations have found that a significant number of vehicles were below the necessary safety standards and I am again disappointed by the fact that this year's operation found three vehicles that had to be taken off the road immediately, due to dangerous defects.
"I want to again remind taxi drivers that it is their responsibility to ensure their vehicle is free of defects before they use it, regardless of the fact it is a company vehicle and that they will be held responsible for these defects which ultimately put their safety at risk, together with that of their passengers."
Councillor John Ennis, Chairman of Harrogate Borough Council's Licensing Committee, added: "The safety of the public is our number one priority. Operators of private hire vehicles and Hackney Carriages must take their responsibilities seriously. Whilst the majority of vehicles stopped were found to be roadworthy, a small number of vehicles had defects serious enough for them to be taken off the road.
"The council conducts regular inspections to ensure that taxi drivers vehicles are in a roadworthy condition, they are properly licensed and they are complying with the conditions of their licence. Operating a defective vehicle can endanger both passengers and other road users, and it will also have serious implications on the taxi driver's livelihood."
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this wonderful article really!
If someone want to know more about the Geo Taxi Services I think this is the right place for you!