Taxi drivers say they have been left fearing for their lives while working on the streets of Bury.

During a meeting attended by police and politicians on Sunday evening, more than 100 drivers from a number of private hire companies from across the town spoke of how they now felt unsafe following several reports of drivers being targeted in recent weeks.

One such incident took place in Broad Oak Lane last Saturday when a driver of teenagers shattered the rear window of a vehicle belonging to Royal Peel Cars driver.

The drivers claim that the police and Bury Council are not doing enough to protect them.

One driver told the meeting at Jinnah Day Care Centre, in Alfred Street, that he felt at risk every time he left the house, and stressed that the situation is also dangerous for passengers.

Another added: “Every day we are getting messages on the system saying ‘drivers be careful, kids are throwing stones.’

“If I drive past a corner and see a group of kids I know an attack is coming. I have been doing the job for 12 years and it has been going on for ages.

“The worst areas for drivers are around Bell Lane, Clarence Park and Walmersley Road, and Whitehead Park on Ainsworth Road.

“Why should I report it if there’s no action? Someone once threatened to shoot me for parking outside his house and still police did nothing.”

http://bit.ly/2ps1A0h

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 NORTH YORKSHIRE



The family of a woman who was killed and partially dismembered by a taxi driver who was suffering from a psychotic illness have said she "might still be alive today" if he had been managed properly.

Gemma Simpson's family were responding to the publication of a report into the treatment of Martin Bell, who killed 23-year-old Miss Simpson in 2000 with a hammer and a knife before sawing her legs off and burying her at a beauty spot near Harrogate, in North Yorkshire.

Bell admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility after leading police to her body 14 years later, and was told he must serve a minimum of 12 years in prison.

A court in 2013 heard how he had a psychotic illness, heard voices telling him to do things and had "developed complex delusional beliefs".

Bell had been sectioned in a hospital for about nine months in August 1999 and was released around six weeks before he killed Miss Simpson.

On Monday, NHS England published an independent report into his care and treatment.

The report, which said its authors were severely hampered by a lack of medical records, concluded: "From the limited evidence which was available to the independent investigation team, it appears possible that, if MB had been fully compliant with anti-psychotic medication and had refrained from misuse of cannabis, then he may not have suffered from a relapse of his psychotic illness.

"In these circumstances, the death of Gemma Simpson might have been prevented."

The new report confirmed that doctors had considered Bell's cannabis use may have contributed to or exacerbated Bell's illness and he had smoked the drug on the day he killed Miss Simpson in his Harrogate flat.

But it said that "notwithstanding the failures in service provision outlined in this report, there were no actions that clinicians could have specifically taken to enforce the continuation of medication given MB's presentation in May 2000, nor to enforce his abstinence from cannabis."

In a statement issued by the campaign group Hundred Families, Miss Simpson's family said they broadly welcomed the findings of the report but added: "In 2000 Martin Bell was known to carry a knife, was delusional, and recognised as a real risk to others, yet he was able to be released without any effective package of care, monitoring, or even a proper assessment of how the risks he posed to others would be managed.

"There appear to have been lots of red flags, just weeks and days before Gemma's death, that should have raised professional concerns.

"We believe that if he had been managed properly, Gemma might still be alive today."

The family said they understood the pressures on mental health services but said: "We keep hearing that lessons have been learned, but we want to make sure they are truly learned in this case."

In court in 2013, prosecutors said Bell struck Miss Simpson, who was from Leeds, an "uncountable" number of times with the knife and hammer in a "frenzied" attack before leaving her body for four days in a bath.

He then sawed off the bottom of her legs so she would fit in the boot of a hire car before burying her at Brimham Rocks, near Harrogate.

Bell, who was 30 at the time of the attack, handed himself in at Scarborough police station in 2013 and later took police to where she was buried.

http://bit.ly/2FTKiAo 

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MIDDLESBORO

 SOME callers to the North-East’s biggest taxi firm are being diverted 2,500 miles away to Egypt, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Middlesbrough-based Boro Taxis said it was having trouble recruiting staff to cover some shifts and as a result a “small number” of bookings were being taken by an offshore call centre.

It described the move as an interim measure which had no impact on staffing levels – in fact it was proposing to open two new offices in Stockton and Middlesbrough.

A customer told The Echo: “I rang for a cab on a weekday evening and the voice on the other end, who while speaking good English, sounded like he was from abroad.

“He seemed to struggle with the address I gave him, so I very carefully gave him directions for the driver.

“To be fair the cab turned up pretty quickly afterwards. When I spoke to the driver he confirmed calls were being taken from Egypt.

“I know it’s not unusual for big companies to have foreign call centres, but it seems a bit odd as far as taxis are concerned.

“I guess they will just have to charge per Nile now rather than per mile.”

Boro Taxis director Christine Bell said: “Boro Taxis has a dedicated team of workers across Teesside who operate our advanced technology and app based bookings.

“None of these people are losing their jobs, in fact we are opening new offices in Stockton and Middlesbrough.

“We are struggling to recruit people locally to take on roles during unsocial hours and, on an interim basis, have outsourced a small number of calls to an overseas call centre.

“This organisation works with household name companies and operates to British standards.”

Earlier this year Boro Taxis announced it was increasing some of its fares, but said it still offered some of the cheapest prices in the country.

The firm swelled in size after buying up rivals Blueline and Marton Cars last summer and now has a thousand-strong fleet.

Boro Taxis was founded in 1982 by Teesside businessman Mohammed Bashir with three vehicles. Its workforce numbers about 900, a mixture of direct employees and self-employed drivers.

http://bit.ly/2FTIIys
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CARLISLE
 
A woman acted as a patient transport taxi driver - despite not having a licence.

Now her boss, David Norman Irving of Carlisle Taxi Hire on Infirmary Street, has been rapped by Carlisle City Council and had three of his vehicle licences suspended.

They will be reinstated after three months.

The woman, identified only as driver x, was employed by Mr Irving as a team leader in charge of patient transport for contracts in west Cumbria.

Records, held by the Carlisle City Council's licensing panel, show she carried out 28 hospital transport journeys between August 15 and September 1, 2017.

The driver had previously held a licence in Allerdale Council but it expired in August last year.

She was, at that time, in the process of applying for a new licence to the council.

In August last year, the licensing department received three anonymous calls advising that the woman was driving for Mr Irving and had been for about three weeks.

On September 1 North West Ambulance Service was told that information had been received that an unlicensed driver may be fulfilling their contracts.

Lance Hindle, a senior team leader with NWAS, contacted the council's licensing department to say he had met the driver and asked if she had a current licence.

She told him it "had been received by Carlisle Licensing Authority but had not yet been processed or issued".

Shortly after, Mr Irving contacted the city council asking when her licence would be issued.

He commented that: "She cannot drive for me until she has it."

Despite this, when licensing officers attended the taxi garage on September 4 and asked to see Mr Irving's operator's records they found some of the records were endorsed with her initial.

Mr Irving told officers: "To be perfectly blunt with you I haven't put a foot wrong since I got my licence apart from letting (driver x) drive too early.

"To be honest I thought she was licensed when she paid for her licence."

Members of the panel found Mr Irving had permitted an unlicensed driver to drive one of his vehicles.

Councillor John Bell, chairman of the licensing panel, said: "That was contrary to the law and had serious implications for public safety. It was completely unacceptable.

"It was imperative all drivers were properly licensed, firstly to ensure they were fit and proper persons to transport members of the public.

"The public, quite rightly, expected the driver of their licensed vehicle was competent to do so.

"As the owner of vehicles, it was Mr Irving’s responsibility to ensure the people driving his vehicles were properly licensed. Mr Irving had failed in that responsibility."

Members allowed him to keep one licence so that he can continue to make a living.

When contacted by the News & Star, Mr Irving, 63, of Scotland Road, Stanwix, Carlisle, declined to comment, but did say an appeal was underway.

A spokeswoman for North West Ambulance Service said: "We do sometimes use private hire taxi companies to help us transport our non-emergency patients however we have very stringent protocols in place to ensure patient safety and all drivers must be fully licensed before they are able to work with us."

"Any driver found not to hold the correct licenses will be immediately withdrawn from our service and we have been working with Carlisle City Council to help with their enquiries into this case."

http://bit.ly/2ppqe2r 
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TAXI drivers in the Scottish Borders are facing a race against time and a £160 bill to prove they are medically fit to drive.

New rules being introduced by Scottish Borders Council are forcing all taxi drivers to undergo the same medical assessments as those legally required of bus and lorry drivers when they apply for new licences.

The examinations, which are believed to cost at least £160, will follow criteria prescribed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and cover a range of conditions, including diabetes, psychiatric illness, drug and alcohol dependence, cardiac related illnesses and sleep disorders.

The move has been criticised by Galashiels taxi firm owner Graham Gray as both costly and not needed.

He said: “We have to obtain a medical from April 1 when we renew our licences.

“The nearest place we can get this is in Edinburgh and if they need to access our doctor;s records it will likely cost a lot more than the £160.

“The first most of us drivers learned about this medical requirement was last week when we all received letters.”

Last year, the council, in its role as licensing authority, set up a working group to consider updated guidance from the DVLA.

The Swansea-based agency recommended that so-called Grade 2 medical assessments which apply to lorry and bus drivers should by extended by the council as a condition of licensing its 380 taxi and private hire car drivers.

Last year, the council suspended the badge of a taxi driver pending medical evidence from his doctor that he had been assessed to Grade 2 standards.

The unnamed driver lodged an appeal at Selkirk Sheriff Court, claiming there was no legal requirement for such a demand and that the council had no formal policy to that effect.

But the Sheriff determined last June that the council request was not unreasonable and dismissed the driver’s appeal.

However, the judge commented that it was “unfortunate” the council had no published policy of the medical standards required of its licensed drivers.

“The Sheriff’s comments reinforce the need for such a policy,” stated the local authority’s licensing solicitor Ron Kirk.

Mr Kirk revealed that a council working group concluded the need for the more rigorous medical examinations “in the interests of public safety and in line with the council’s continued efforts as a taxi/private hire care licensing authority to improve standards generally”.

He added: “For the avoidance of doubt… the costs of obtaining a medical assessment should be met by the applicant in all instances.”

All drivers aged 18 to 45 are to be medically assessed to the new standard when submitting licence renewal applications from next month.

From age 45 onwards, drivers will be reassessed every five years, while those aged 65 and over will be reassessed annually.

From April 1, it will also be mandatory on application forms for all licence holders to report to the council “any disability or medical condition which may affect their ability to drive”.

Stuart Russell, who operates Reiver Taxis in Galashiels, told us: “This has been adopted by many other local authorities.”

http://bit.ly/2DFCuQS