SCOTLAND

A 69-year-old woman has died after being seriously injured when she was hit by private hire vehicle as she crossed a road in Greenock.

Joan Crilly was struck by a Skoda Octavia car on Campbell Street at about 16:05 on 22 December.
She was taken to Inverclyde Royal Hospital then later transferred to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

She died on Wednesday as a result of her injuries. The 73-year-old car driver was uninjured.
Officers have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Mrs Crilly was married and had two children, police said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-38469552
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NEW YORK

 Taxi tycoon Evgeny Freidman must hand over 46 of his coveted taxi medallions to pay off creditors, a judge has ruled.

Freidman, 44, who owes money to Citibank, the state, and a host of others, must give up the cars and medallions by Jan. 9, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Carla Craig ordered this week.

The jetsetting yellow cab kingpin filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July, in an effort to protect his cab empire.

That same month it was revealed that city prosecutors are probing whether Freidman forged his estranged wife’s name to take out loans to purchase taxi medallions.

His wife filed for divorce and custody of the couple’s 1-year-old daughter earlier in the year.
Freidman, who owns close to 900 medallions, sought protection for 22 companies that control the 46 medallions worth nearly $50 million, court papers show.

Freidman, a big time fundraiser for Mayor de Blasio, settled with Citibank earlier on about 44 medallions, leaving the remaining 46 in need of bankruptcy protection.

The taxi king has seen the value of his cabs plummet with the rise of app-boosted livery services like Uber. Freidman did not respond to a request for comment.

http://nydn.us/2hIP7V7
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DERBY

 A taxi passenger and her partner were filmed attacking their driver, allegedly punching and biting him after he asked them to get out.
Shahid Iqbal, 50, said the pair refused to pay a £7 fare, and became angry when he asked them to take out money at a cashpoint.

The woman allegedly grabbed the wheel at one point, and demanded that he give her ‘£80 for my children’.

When Mr Iqbal stopped and tried to dial 999, he said she grabbed his phone and started to bite it in an attempt to stop him getting help.
‘She then went for me again and bit my arm. She was then pushing me and forced me out of the taxi and into the street,’ he told the Derby Telegraph.

After this, he said her partner joined in while a group of bystanders looked on, one of them filming what happened although he didn’t try to help.

‘I fell to the floor and I was in agony,’ Mr Iqbal said.

He managed to get through to police and when officers arrived on scene in Normanton, Derby, the two ran away.

‘I was gutted when I saw it on social media,’ Mr Iqbal said. ‘Nobody came to help me that night. I was attacked on my own and I remember there being a group of people there and somebody recording it.

‘I have since seen the video online and I think it’s a total disgrace that somebody has done this.’

Derbyshire police said a woman was arrested and bailed on suspicion of attempted robbery.

‘At 1.15am on December 1, a taxi driver picked up a woman and a man in the city centre area of Derby,’ a spokeswoman said.

‘When they arrived at the destination in Bailey Street, the woman passenger became aggressive and allegedly assaulted the driver.

‘A 23-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery and has been released on police bail pending further investigations.’

Anyone with information is urged to contact DC Sarah Parkin on 101.
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SOUTHAMPTON


TAXI drivers have reacted angrily to plans to raise the cost of a permit for “ranking up” in Southampton Docks by more than 500 per cent.

Dock owners ABP, in consultation with Southampton City Council, proposed increasing the permit from £68 to £370.

The permit allows Hackney Cabs to wait for passengers coming off the cruise ships.

In recent years ABP has employed ranks marshals who have told cabbies where to wait and helped passengers find taxis.

Each time a taxi picked up a passenger from the terminals the driver paid the marshal £1 - which was added to the fare.

The marshals were introduced at the request of the cruise companies after trouble with some taxi drivers refusing to accept short journeys, preferring to hold out for lucrative long journeys.

Both sides agree the £1 system is unsatisfactory - the drivers do not receive a receipt or token to say they have paid the fee and then have to explain why they are charging £1 extra.

ABP proposes to scrap the scheme when the new permit comes into force.

However angry drivers say that at least the £1 charge can be passed onto the customer unlike the extra £302 they are paying for a permit.

Driver, Perry McMillan claimed it was a money-making scheme for ABP who already “made a mint” out of the cruise ships.

He said Unite was now in talks with ABP.

In the letter sent out by licensing manager Phil Bates the following breakdown is give for the how the proposed permit price was reached: SCC costs £45.34 ABP costs £262.99 Sub total £308.33 VAT (20 per cent) £61.67 Total £370 Clive Johnson of the Southampton Trade Association (STA) which represents drivers said the increase in permit cost was unacceptable.

“A lot of drivers are saying they will not renew their permits at that price,” he said.

An ABP spokesman said: “We are exploring options with the council to devise an improved scheme that reduces the cost for drivers while delivering an enhanced service for our cruise customers.”

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