BISHOP AUCKLAND

A TAXI driver caught up in the dramatic police shooting of an armed man has described suffering sleepless nights and having to leave the area to escape the memories of his terrifying ordeal.

What began as an ordinary day working in the Bishop Auckland area– as he has for 20 years– became the most traumatic experience of his life when 'all hell broke loose' and his minibus was surrounded by armed officers.

One month after the traumatic events, the cabbie – who does not want to be named – said he cannot face returning to any taxi rank because he is unable to pick up strangers.

    'Police were right to shoot me' says gunman

The man has limited his work to school runs and "safe" fares and is being treated for stress.

And he said he did not accept Houlihan's apology for his actions, saying: "He will never know how much he has screwed my life up."

The driver had been dispatched to pick up Samuel Houlihan from a shop in Bishop Auckland town centre.

He said: “I thought that would be no problem. I went and picked the guy up and he asked if we could go via Cockton Hill so he could stop at the shop. We stopped and I just waited as he ran into the Cockton Hill Club.

"A couple of minutes later he came back and tapped on the window, and said he was just going to the shop over the road to get some fags.”

The driver said he then drove Houlihan along Woodhouse Lane and found himself sandwiched between a police car and van, with another two nearby.

He looked over at his passenger and saw him pull out a gun and place it between his legs.

The driver said: “I flashed the police car in front, but they didn’t appear to take any notice. I was tapping the brake lights to attract the van, but again no notice.

“We pulled up to some temporary traffic lights and they were on red. I had my window down and I was waving my arm out of it trying to get attention.”

It was as the lights turned green that the driver said 'all hell broke loose'.

“The cars came alongside, and the next thing I knew the police were shouting instructions – put your hands up, put your hands up. He wasn’t taking any notice, and the officer told me to remove the keys from the ignition and throw them out of the window.

“He pulled a whisky bottle out, and then he was waving the gun around and the police were shouting to put the weapon down.

“I knew I couldn’t stay in the car, so I tried to open the door the best I could and fell out of the taxi.

“When you're sat in that car, you don’t know what he is going to do. I don’t know if it is imitation gun or not. It looked bloody damn really to me."

Speaking to The Northern Echo, the driver said he did not sleep for days after witnessing Houlihan get shot in the arm through the window of his taxi.

Soon after the ordeal, he sought medical support and went to stay with friends outside of the county to avoid hearing people talk about the incident or revisiting the scene.

When he got his minibus back from forensics, he faced the harrowing task of having the window fixed and blood and glass cleaned from the interior.

The driver praised Durham Police for their support.

https://goo.gl/bWv7Ck


----------------------------------------------------

WOLVERHAMPTON


Taxi drivers planning 'go-slow' protest in Wolverhampton city centre

Cabbies from outside the city still plan to protest despite campaigners calling off main rally

Taxi drivers are set to cause disruption to roads in Wolverhampton city centre tomorrow with a 'go slow' protest.

Cabbies from Coventry will descend on the Civic Centre from 12pm to 2pm to demonstrate against Wolverhampton Council's private hire licensing system.

They say the authority has issued thousands of licences to Uber drivers operating all around the country, threatening the livelihoods of black cab drivers in places including Coventry.

A protest organised by the West Midlands Private Hire Drivers' Association, which was also planned for tomorrow, was called off after council bosses threatened anyone taking part with legal action.

The new protest has been organised by the Unite union, which says cabbies have to comply with a large number of criteria and regulations which the Uber drivers can ignore.

Unite regional officer Alan Lewis said: “Coventry taxi drivers who play by the rules are facing having their livelihoods cut from under them by the unthinking actions of Wolverhampton council.

“Wolverhampton Council needs to end the race to the bottom, immediately stop this practice and withdraw licences for drivers not based in their area.”

Councillor Alan Bolshaw, Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee chairman, said: “It would appear that the taxi trade is riddled with competing factions saying different things which paint a confusing, uncoordinated picture.

"One minute we read the protest is off and then it is back on.

"As far as we can tell, it appears that black cab drivers from Coventry, joined by opportunist local Coventry politicians will now be coming over to Wolverhampton to yet again protest about something we are powerless to change.

"They are angry about changes to national legislation, through the Deregulation Act, which threatens the closed shop that is the traditional taxi industry.

"It is the streets of Westminster rather than Wolverhampton where the taxi trade should take their protest.

"It is not fair to treat the people of Wolverhampton as piggy in the middle.

"Not only this, but staging a go-slow protest in the midday sun on a baking hot day threatens public safety and the organisers should rethink their strategy if they want to get people on-side.”

Wolverhampton Council has come under fire from drivers and other local authorities for exploiting legislation brought in through the 2015 Deregulation Act, which allows drivers to licensed in one area to operate anywhere in the country.

The city has handed out more than 9,000 licences in the last year.

https://goo.gl/MfBpS7