MANCHESTER
A drug driver who miraculously emerged unharmed after flipping his car following a 135mph police chase has been jailed.
Mohammed Qureshi, 29, who had hopes of becoming a taxi driver and previously worked as an Uber Eats driver, has been locked up for 10 months.
His lawyer said Qureshi 'panicked' after initially being stopped by police, as he had taken cocaine, had the drug on him and was not insured to drive his car.
Manchester Crown Court was told that some of his friends had encouraged him to take cocaine as he was suffering a 'low mood' following the breakdown of his relationship.
Police in an unmarked car spotted Qureshi, from Levenshulme, driving a black Seat car in Cheetham Hill, at about 10.30pm on October 8 last year.
They became suspicious after finding that the vehicle was insured to a woman, his mother.
They pulled him over and told him to get out.
But Qureshi sped off, reaching speeds of about 70mph in built up areas, where the speed limit was 30mph.
He overtook other cars and went through red lights.
Later he joined the M60 at junction 19 heading towards Bury.
During the chase on the motorway, officers noted that they were travelling at 135mph and were 'not making much progress', prosecutor Gavin Howie said.
Qureshi then joined the M66, again heading towards Bury.
At one point Qureshi turned his lights off on the motorway, where there were no street lights on. He later turned them on again.
Police decided it was no longer safe to continue the pursuit.
Further down the carriageway, near junction three at Pilsworth, Qureshi lost control and crashed the car, which flipped onto its roof.
The vehicle was said to be 'completely written off'.
Qureshi tried running away, prosecutors said, but after being wrestled to the ground he told officers he was sorry.
The pursuit lasted for about 15 minutes, covering about five miles.
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CALIFORNIA
Uber says 158,000 drivers will lose work if they're reclassified as employees
Uber has been crunching data, and it's come up with an internal analysis on what would happen if it reclassified its California drivers as employees. According to the company, passengers could expect to see prices go up 20% to 120%, and tens of thousands of drivers might be out of work.
Of Uber's 209,000 drivers in the state, the company said, 76% could lose their jobs on the ride-hailing platform. Rural areas would be hit hardest by these cutbacks.
"Shifting to an employment model would force us to limit the number of people who could drive on Uber in order to manage costs that are fixed per employee," the company said.
Most economists agree the system would change if drivers were to become employees. But some say numbers like these need more context. For example, rural areas already have minimal coverage by Uber and some drivers only work a few hours a week.
If drivers were employees, the platform would run more efficiently, said Michael Reich, co-chair of the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at the University of California at Berkeley.
"Some drivers who work more than 40 hours per week will reduce their hours," Reich said. "Many who drive less than 40 hours per week are likely to increase their hours."
Uber's new analysis comes as the debate over gig worker classification in California heats up. Currently, most gig economy companies classify their workers as independent contractors, rather than employees.
That means the companies aren't responsible for benefits like health insurance, sick leave and minimum wage. California passed a law last fall mandating that gig workers be classified as employees. The law, AB 5, went into effect on Jan. 1.
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WAKEFIELD
A "gun fanatic" who shot dead a taxi driver at a railway station has died in prison.
Colin Cheetham murdered father-of-three Stuart Ludlam at Cromford station in Derbyshire in September 2009.
The 71-year-old did not know his victim and appeared to have had no motive other wanting to shoot a "complete stranger", his trial heard.
A Prison Service spokesperson confirmed Cheetham had died at HMP Wakefield on 1 May.
In 2010 the killer, from Ripley, Derbyshire, was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison.
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A group of taxi drivers from Barrow who have been made unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic have gotten together to create their own co-operative taxi firm.
Brian White, 47, who has twenty year’s taxi driving experience, launched Coastal Cars last week (May 22) with nine other taxi drivers.
The group had all worked for A1 Taxis based on Rawlinson Street.
Brian said: “Sadly the boss decided to shut down so there were no health risks to any of us. We’ve been off work for weeks and it’s meant forty lads out of work.
“The time has allowed for some of us to set up as we want however, it’s almost like going back to factory settings and we’re doing it our own way.
We’re our own bosses. Instead of the likes of radio rental we just ask for contribution costs towards the bills, operator wage etc. There’s no skimming the top.”
The firm is taking strict safety measures regarding customer health and limiting passengers to the back seat. It’s also ensuring constant cleaning of all cars and is encouraging contactless payments where possible.
In order to get the business of the ground during hard times, the community has rallied around. Michael Hoad, who set up the Corner Shop in Barrow, offered pay for flyers and distribute them when he got wind of the idea.
Street Cars on Dalkeith Street has offered the new firm some space to rent to help with the taxi operator licence and one local has offered to help as an operator for free whilst the business gets going.
Brian said: “I’d just like to thank everyone who’s helped us. I think everyone knows we’re all good lads who are nice and polite and our customers have always known that too.
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