YORK 

A TAXI driver who ran over a student lying in the road has been cleared of causing his death by careless driving.

The jury at York Crown Court took an hour and 45 minutes to reach their unanimous verdict that Frank Norman, 71, was not guilty.

Relatives of deceased student Robert Stephenson were in the public gallery when the jury returned their verdict, as they were throughout the four-day trial.

Immediately afterwards, Judge Paul Batty QC said: “The court would wish to pay tribute to the quiet dignity of Robert’s family during the currency of these proceedings and the court acknowledges their obvious grief and abiding loss of one so loved.”

Mr Stephenson, of Pickering, was 21 when he died and was in the final year of an agricultural degree course at Newcastle University.

Mr Norman, of Brunel Court, off Leeman Road, York, showed no reaction when the verdict was announced.

He has been a York taxi driver for more than 30 years and regularly did weekend night shifts.

He told the jury he had no time to take avoiding action when he saw Mr Stephenson as the student lay in his path on the road near the Micklegate and Priory Street junction.

He had thought there was a bin bag in front of him and kept driving.

Mr Stephenson had been drinking in the city centre before he staggered along Micklegate in the early hours of March 26, 2016, and lay down in the road, apparently going to sleep.

A taxi coming into the city centre along the other side of the road saw him lying there and stopped before driving on.

A trust fund set up in Mr Stephenson’s memory has raised more than £100,000 to help young people participate in sport.

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SCOTLAND TO STAFFORD

A pensioner who died after a hotel sent her on a 350-mile taxi ride home contracted norovirus at the venue, an inquest heard.

Norma Francis, 79, from Stafford, was at Loch Achray Hotel in Callander, Scotland, with her husband John, 81, when she fell ill in April 2016.
She could not be woken upon arriving home and died later in hospital.

Coroner Andrew Haigh said her death was caused by the infection and worsened by the long journey home.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had norovirus.

The couple, who booked through operator Lochs and Glens Holidays, arrived at their hotel on 3 April while celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary.

Mrs Francis, who was healthy and enjoyed keep fit classes, fell ill two days later, the hearing was told.

The hotel manager arranged a taxi and the couple left on 6 April.

Mrs Francis slept for much of the journey but an ambulance was called when she could not be roused. She was taken to Stafford's County Hospital, where she died.

Recording a narrative verdict at Stafford Crown Court, Mr Haigh said it was both the hotel and the couple's decision for Mrs Francis to get in the taxi, but there was an "element of pressure" from the hotel.

There was also no record Mrs Francis was correctly medically assessed, he added.

Neil Wells, managing director of Lochs and Glens, told the hearing it was standard procedure to send guests home in a paid-for taxi if they were ill with norovirus, but only if they felt well enough to travel.

He said he did not believe there was any undue pressure on Mr and Mrs Francis to get a taxi.
The hotel has been reviewing procedures although the coroner did not make recommendations to do so, he said after the inquest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-42102682
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SWINDON

Reality TV star Marco Pierre White Jr is accused of dodging a £33 taxi fare by the driver who gave him a lift to his famous father’s hotel.

Police are investigating after Gary Edwards, 37, picked the tattooed model up from his celebrity chef father Marco Pierre White’s Italian restaurant Bardolino, in Swindon, Wiltshire.

He says he then took the Big Brother star on a 60-mile round trip to the Rudloe Arms, in Corsham, Wiltshire.

But he says the 22-year-old passed out on the back seats then disappeared into the hotel after being dropped off - despite promising to get the money from his father.

Mr Edwards had been waiting for clients at Swindon Railway Station when he was called to Bardolino at 10.30am.

When he realised he wasn’t going to get paid he called the police, claiming he was encouraged to do so by the celebrity chef himself.

'I picked him up from Bardolino and he came out and asked for a receipt for the £33, then went back inside to get the money,' he said.

'They obviously refused to give him the money - he came back out and said "I don’t have the money but my dad will pay when we get there".
'I had heard stories about him but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.'

Mr Edwards said the star then rambled about his wild night out before passing out on the back seats for the whole journey.

He said he had to rouse him to ask where he wanted to be dropped off.

'He got out and said "I’ll just go get you the money",' he said.

After five minutes he came out and said someone would be out to out to pay me in a minute. He just disappeared. After ten minutes no one came out.'
Mr Edwards said he was ushered into the reception area where he had a conversation with the receptionist, who told him it wasn't the first time the TV star had dodged a fare.

'She said "he does this all the time. His dad has had enough of him and has washed his hands of him. His dad said just call the police".'

Mr Edwards said he waited in the lounge area while staff tried to get hold of Marco Pierre White Jr, but he was then asked to leave because the matter had nothing to do with Marco Pierre White or his company.

In a statement, Wiltshire Police said: 'We received a call at midday on November 19 from a taxi driver reporting that his passenger which he drove from Swindon to Corsham, refused to pay for the journey once he had arrived at his destination.

'This has been reported as a bilking incident and an officer will be assigned to investigate.'

Marco Pierre White Junior was ordered to carry out unpaid work in December last year after racking up thousands of pounds worth of purchases on his ex-girlfriend’s bank card.

The Rudloe Arms and Marco Pierre White Junior could not be reached for comment.

The same year he was fined £400 after admitting driving while high on cocaine and the trial of his mother - who was accused of assaulting him - collapsed weeks later after he failed to turn up to court to give evidence having been on a boozy bender in Hampstead the night before.

http://dailym.ai/2zyoJpX 
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