NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

A taxi driver says she 'lost her dignity' after a man pulled her from the car while holding a knife to her throat.

Harry Thompson, 33, of no fixed address, had travelled in the taxi from Ilkeston before he forced the woman out of the vehicle at knife-point.

He then threw her to the ground on Giltway, near the Giltbrook Retail Park and took her mobile phone and keys, before driving off in the taxi.

The woman was left stranded at the side of the road.

Nottinghamshire Police arrived at the scene of the incident, which happened at around 10.40pm on April 16 this year, and later traced the taxi to Hucknall the same night at 11.30pm.

Forensic investigators managed to find a fingerprint which belonged to Thompson, who was then arrested and charged.

Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, July 3, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

In a statement to the court, the victim said they did not "feel safe anymore" and their dignity had been lost.

The statement said: "I am hopeful that as time goes on I will start to feel better about it, think about it less and get my confidence back.

www.nottinghampost.com
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Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council have put an electric vehicle strategy plan together to improve the area‘s EV network, and it has a clear focus on the taxi and private hire trade, saying: “Taxis and private hire vehicles are typically used more intensively than private cars.

“They contribute considerably to urban air pollution in areas of high footfall, resulting in a significant negative impact on citizen’s health. This problem is compounded by the fact there are a significant number of older and more polluting taxis operating in Solihull.“


A spokesperson for the council went on to add that despite the challenges they currently pose, taxis and private hire vehicles have the potential to play a significant role in the development of a comprehensive charging network by providing a base-level of demand for EV charging points, thus reducing the risk of low-utilisation of charging points and improving their commercial viability.


In addition, the council say because a key challenge with electric vehicles is very limited exposure with the wider public, taxi and private hire (TPH) vehicles have the potential to offer a large number of residents and local employees a positive first experience of travelling in an electric vehicle, helping to improve public familiarity with the technology.

The council believes a first step to realising the potential of TPH vehicles in driving uptake of EVs in Solihull is to establish effective channels of communication with the taxi trade to improve awareness and close knowledge gaps on the benefits of EVs, whilst gauging the industry’s perceptions of the benefits of EVs.


”Understanding travel patterns, including key routes, stopping and waiting areas and popular pick-up and drop-off destinations of the taxi private hire vehicles will enable the identification of suitable potential locations for charging infrastructure that can be used by the taxi trade and therefore guaranteeing a consistent level of use,” a spokesperson said.


There are several possible methods for understanding the travel patterns of the taxi trade including analysis of taxi GIS data, conducting taxi-rank surveys and using tracking equipment placed in taxis and private hire vehicles.


The strategy plan notes that any charging points that would be used by the taxi trade would likely need to be rapid chargers due to the time constraints on charging during a shift. Taxi drivers would also need to have guaranteed ability to charge immediately for this same reason. A booking system that is compatible with neighbouring areas would allow this, the potential for which is being explored in more detail.
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A Birmingham man wearing three pairs of jogging bottoms went to Staffordshire looking for work - and ended up as a crack cocaine dealer.

24-year-old drugs 'runner' Bolibenga Imbale has been jailed after police caught him with 30 wraps of crack cocaine.

He was in Stoke-on-Trent looking for work, where he became a drug dealer for 48 hours, and was rumbled by police in an alley way.

He was acting suspiciously when Staffordshire Police stopped the taxi he was leaving in, discovering a wrap of heroin and 30 wraps of crack cocaine.

The class A drugs were stuffed down in his trousers, with messages on his mobile phone device hinting at drug dealing activity, reports StokeonTrentLive.

The 24-year-old has now been jailed for 30 months, with prosecutor Andrew Baker telling Stoke Crown Court the incident unfolded on January 31, 2019.

Mr Baker said: "Something untoward was going on. They suspected drug dealing. The defendant got in a taxi. It was stopped by the plain clothes officers. The defendant was wearing three pairs of jogging bottoms.

"Next to him on the taxi seat was a cigarette containing one £10 wrap of heroin.

"He was taken to the police station and searched. In one of the pairs of trousers police found 30 wraps of cocaine in cigarette papers.

"He had £361.22 and a phone which was analysed. Messages were consistent with him being a runner. He was being directed by two particular numbers. He was being sent postcode numbers directing him where to attend and what drugs to sell.

"He had to relay back the total number of drugs he had. They were consistent with him having sold £280 to £300 worth of drugs the previous day."

Imbale, Edgbaston, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to two offences of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply.

Jason Holt, mitigating, said the defendant came to this country from The Congo, Africa, in 2005 and he later took British citizenship. He has worked as a chef and a night porter but started using cocaine.

Mr Holt said: "He developed a habit. He was in the Stoke area looking for work. He was given drugs and was told with the phone where to take them."

Judge Paul Glenn said: "You got involved in drug dealing as a result of your own cocaine addiction. You were going to be paid by being given a supply of cocaine for your own use. You had only been involved for two days.

"You were seen by police meeting up with people in an alleyway, having been on a mobile phone.


"When you left the police stopped the taxi you were in. They found a small amount of heroin on a seat where you had been and at the Northern Area Custody Facility in Etruria they found 30 wraps of crack cocaine.

"You had a mobile phone that was ringing continuously. When it was interrogated it was quite plain you had been receiving instructions about where to take deliveries. You had sent texts indicating how much money you had and what was left in terms of stock.

"You were dealing at street level, working for another person, in what is described as the role of a runner. It was financially motivated."
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READING

A taxi driver's car was set alight by an alleged arsonist who struck late at night.

A passer-by alerted the man after noticing flames coming from the Green Metro Cars Toyota parked on his driveway in Reading.

He raced to put out the fire - and managed to stop it spreading.

The taxi firm told BerkshireLive it believes the fire on Friday night was started by someone with a "grudge" against the company.

It said its vehicles have been targeted in several attacks over the last year.

Police confirmed officers are investigating the incident.

A Green Metro Cars spokesman said: "It has been happening for quite some time now.

"Within a year there have been four such incidents with windows smashed in our cars, damage like that.

"It wasn't even robbery or attempted robbery, because nothing was taken from our vehicles, so someone might have a grudge against the company."

He said the driver was in a state of shock after the fire on Shinfield Rise.

Police said officers were called at 11.45pm on Friday, July 3.

The Green Metro Cars spokesman added: "The car was parked outside our driver's house, in his driveway, and someone rang his doorbell and said 'Your vehicle is on fire and someone has run off'.

"It was just someone walking along the street who saw it.

"Someone must have thrown some chemicals or kerosene at it.

"The exterior was on fire and the flames went through the bonnet, but he was able to extinguish the flames."

www.getreading.co.uk
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Charging minicabs a fee to drive in central London when black cabs are exempt discriminates against vulnerable workers and passengers, a court has heard.

London’s black cabs do not pay the Congestion Charge – a £15 daily fee that aims to reduce traffic in central London – but Uber, Addison Lee and other private hire drivers do.

Minicabs were previously also exempt – but the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, scrapped the policy last year.

But that decision has been challenged in a Court of Appeal case brought by a gig economy workers’ union over the past two days.

While 88 per cent of black cab drivers are white, 94 per cent of minicab drivers are of black, Asian or ethnic minority (BAME) heritage.

This means the new policy indirectly discriminates against BAME workers, according to the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain.

It also impacts female drivers, who are more likely to work part time, and older or disabled passengers who have reduced travel options, the court heard.

Ben Collins, the IWGB lawyer, said minicab drivers were “working very long hours to make ends meet and provide for their families” and “every penny counts”.

Some 71 per cent of minicab drivers live in the most deprived parts of London, and they make on average £23,000 a year or less, he told the court.

And forcing them to pay the charge could see them lose income, or force them to work longer hours, he warned.

But City Hall says the number of private hire vehicles in the city centre has risen sharply, and discouraging access was necessary to drive down traffic.

Around a third of private hire vehicles, some 38,000, carry out trips in the charge zone, alongside London’s 21,000 black cabs – with 18,000 minicabs entering each day.

Marie Demetriou, for the Mayor and TfL, said the increase has been “beyond what was imagined” when the Congestion Charge was introduced in 2003 – but the number of black cabs has remained “pretty static”.

Removing the exemption for minicabs was not a tactic “plucked from the air” but “the mechanism for reducing congestion”, she argued.

But Mr Collins warned the charge for private hire drivers could increase congestion.

He said it may encourage drivers to loiter in the zone once they’ve entered “in the hope of finding a passenger” to recoup costs, rather than making a short trip through it.

The Congestion Charge rose 30 per cent last Monday (June 22) from £11.50 to £15 a day.

Operating hours have been extended to include weekends, and from 7am to 6pm previously to 7am to 10pm now – meaning the cost to minicab drivers could now be over £100 a week.

The changes are a temporary measure during the Covid-19 outbreak, and Ms Demetriou told the court it was an “extraordinary” step, not relevant to the claim.

https://www.guardian-series.co.uk

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United Private Hire Drivers are asking Glasgow City Council to allow drivers to install protective screens in their cars.

Glasgow City Council have been accused of 'dragging their feet' over plans to introduce protective screens for private hire cars.

United Private Hire Drivers (UPHD) have said that the council is one of only two local authorities who have to decided not to allow drivers to install the screens in their vehicle.

Unlike black Hackney-style cars, private hire vehicles don't any have protection from or for their customers.

As well as transporting members of the public, some companies have contracts with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to take patients and medication to and from the hospital.

United Private Hire Drivers, which represents drivers all over Scotland, has said that three drivers have died of Covid-19 in Glasgow since the outbreak began.

A member of staff at the company, who own Glasgow Private Hire and Renfrewshire Cabs, told Glasgow Live that drivers are picking up hospital patients but not being told whether they are positive for the virus.

The worker who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Our company has a contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to provide managed transport services to the organisation - this includes patient and staff transport as well as other courier services for samples, medicine, equipment and more.

"The management team originally indicated that when NHSGGC staff contact our Control Room staff to book a taxi for a patient who has tested positive for COVID-19, that we should not inform the driver.

"Our staff did not follow this instruction and thus informed the driver sent for the hire. This was later backtracked by one of our managers after the fact and that we would not be transferring any customer with a confirmed positive case of coronavirus."

Drivers have said that maintaining a two-metre distance in a car is virtually impossible.

Alfie Wellcoat, Vice Chair Glasgow UPHD, said: "Drivers are having to chose between staying at home and losing money to protect themselves and their family, or go to work and put their lives at risk.

"We've been discussing installing the protective screens with all local authorities but so far, Glasgow City Council have been dragging their feet."

All private hire drivers require permission from the city's licencing board to make any modification to their cars.

Glasgow City Council are currently seeking further guidance on whether the screens prevent the spread of the virus and if they pose a safety issue for passengers, if the car is to crash.

A spokesman for the council said: "We fully understand the anxiety that anyone may feel when working in close proximity to members of the public during the Covid-19 crisis.

"At this stage no-one can confirm whether such screens do restrict the spread of the virus and we have other concerns about the safety implications of such temporary modifications to vehicles.

"We have written to the Scottish Government to seek clarification on how private hire vehicles can operate safely during the covid-19 outbreak. The matter has also been raised by Solar, the body that represents all licensing authorities in Scotland."

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/

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LEEDS

A passenger stole a taxi driver's cab then rammed a police car during a dangerous pursuit through Leeds city centre.

A judge told Sohail Khan he had an "arrogant disregard" for public safety during the incident as he was jailed for 10 months.

Leeds Crown Court heard Khan was a passenger in a taxi travelling on Whitehall Road on July 9 last year when the vehicle was stopped by police.

Stephen Littlewood, prosecuting, said the taxi driver pulled over and got out of the car to speak to officers.

An officer then noticed Khan acting suspiciously inside the vehicle and place something into the glove box.

The officer told the 23-year-old defendant to get out of the taxi but he locked the doors and climbed into the driver's seat.

Khan then drove off in the taxi and was followed by the officers.

Mr Littlewood said Khan went around a roundabout five times before heading towards Domestic Street in Holbeck.

He went around another roundabout several times before driving the wrong way on a one-way road.

The officers abandoned the pursuit because of the danger it posed to members of the public.

Khan was spotted driving the car back on Whitehall Road a short time later and the pursuit resumed.

The defendant drove on the wrong side of the road but had his path blocked by two other taxis.

Mr Littlewood said the taxi drivers refused to move out of Khan's way when they realised he was involved in a police chase.

Khan tried to drive between the two cars, causing damage to all three vehicles.

He was then blocked in by a police car but Khan tried to ram his way out.

The officers approached Khan in the taxi on foot but he refused to get out and continued to rev the engine.

Mr Littlewood said the officers smashed the window of the vehicle and managed to arrest Khan.

The incident lasted ten minutes in total.

Khan, of Burlington Road, Beeston, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, having no insurance and having no licence.

He has a previous convictions for dangerous driving.

Matthew Harding, mitigating, said Khan pleaded guilty to the offence at an early stage and was sorry for what he had done.

Mr Harding said Khan came for a supportive family and was afraid of going to prison.

Jailing Khan, Judge Robin Mairs said: "You demonstrated a complete and arrogant disregard for any other driver.

"You were quite willing to risk the loss of life or limb and it is only by good fortune that that did not happen."

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk

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Travelling in Cheltenham licensed taxis or private hire vehicles is set to become safer as the authority's cabinet is expected to approve a new policy on partition screens in the vehicles.

On July 7, Cheltenham Borough Council's cabinet will consider a proposed policy to allow taxi and private hire drivers to install partition screens in their vehicles, as a means to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission between themselves and their passengers.

Whilst there is no evidence to suggest that a partition screen between drivers and passengers will provide 100 per cent protection against transmission of the coronavirus, there is evidence to show that the use of physical barriers is effective in lowering the risk of infection and spread of the coronavirus.

The proposed policy that Cabinet will consider next week, is part of the authority's recovery work for Cheltenham. There is recognition that the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly severe on the livelihoods of hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire licence holders. A policy that will allow taxi and private hire drivers to make journeys safer will provide the public with reassurance and provide confidence that measures are being taken to try and keep them safe when taking a taxi or private hire vehicle.

It is also designed to provide taxi and private hire drivers with the confidence they need to return to work. Office of National Statistics data has shown that licensed drivers have a greater risk of mortality relating to COVID-19. The ability to install properly designed and installed partition screens, together with other safety measures such as good hygiene and the appropriate use of PPE, are measures being encouraged by the authority to support licensed drivers.

Councillor Andrew McKinlay, cabinet member for development and safety, said: "The council is committed to supporting the town's recovery.

"The principal concern of the council is the safety and wellbeing of the public. This policy, if adopted, will make taxi journeys safer for people and should give greater confidence to people wanting to visit the town, that steps are being taken to better protect their health and wellbeing.

"The draft policy will not impose a mandatory requirement to install partition screens in taxis, recognising that a flexible approach is appropriate, particularly since there is no formal Government guidance on this matter. However, members of the public can exercise their right of choice if they would prefer to take a taxis fitted with a screen, instead of automatically taking the one at the front of a taxi queue."

https://www.punchline-gloucester.com

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A taxi driver has been caught speeding in excess of 90mph on the M65 despite a downpour of rain.
The motorist had two fares in the back of the vehicle while reaching a speed of 92mph in Burnley.

Police have today (June 30) slammed the driver for the 'disgraceful' incident, pointing out he already had ten points on his licence for speeding offences.

Officers said he had 'not learnt' his lesson and reported him for summons.

A spokesperson for Lancs Road Police said: "This taxi was stopped in Burnley having been followed doing 92mph on the M65 in the rain.

"Disgracefully he had two fares in the back and to make things worse he already has 10 points for speeding offences!

"Lesson clearly not learned so reported for summons."

https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/taxi-driver-10-points-licence-18514664

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WOKINGHAM

A taxi cab boss has been seeking support for taxi drivers in Wokingham after the council closed taxi ranks and parking bays, following the announcement of shops reopening. 

Muhammad Arshad, Chairman of the Wokingham Borough Hackney Drivers Association, has been speaking to the council for weeks, seeking support for the local taxi industry, which has been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. 

In an email, Mr Arshad said to the Wokingham Borough Council: "As the shops are being opened and life is just about to be normalised, our only official taxi rank in Wokingham broad street has been closed, without us being notified and no alternative provided. This means we cannot resume work even if we want to. 

"Please note that not all the taxi drivers are permitted to work at Wokingham Station, as it needs a separate permit from South West Trains."

Peter Baveystock of the Wokingham Borough Council said in response: "The taxi ranks (and parking bays) in Broad Street are currently suspended under an emergency Section 14(2) Order to enable social distancing measures to be implemented.

 

"We have had to close these ranks (and other bays) under this Order to meet the Government requirement for implementing temporary footway extension measures in time for the relaxation on non-essential retail business operations.

www.bracknellnews.co.uk 

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Licensing bosses in Wolverhampton are preparing to approve the £49,000 register, which will enable all drivers, operators and proprietors of private hire and hackney cabs licensed by the council to provide up-to-date information records.

 
Private hire taxi drivers in the city hit out at the council this week after fitting plastic screens in their cars to protect against coronavirus – which licensing chiefs then made them remove, as prior permission had not been sought.

 
The ‘My Driver Portal’ will enable all drivers to record criminal/motoring convictions or cautions; changes in name, address or contact details; changes in private hire operator; changes of driver if the vehicle is licensed by a hire company, and any road traffic accidents.

 
In a report to the council, Licensing Section Leader Lorraine Jones said: "When a driver has a change in circumstances they are required to inform us in writing as part of the conditions of their licence.

"It is important to ensure that records are kept up to date in order to be able to contact the relevant and correct driver/proprietor or operator in the event of a circumstance or allegation that requires immediate action to be undertaken by licensing services.

"The portal was created as a self-help function for drivers to maintain their records online and ensure they are kept up to date as per the conditions of the licence issued. 

"Traditionally this would be a paper record, but as we are working totally electronically, it was a natural step for the register to be electronic. It also makes the register more easily accessible. 

"The introduction of an online portal provides easier access to the information held against licence holders and the ability for licence holders to instantly update the information themselves,” she added. 

Access to the driver portal will be secure and require an email address specific to each driver, proprietor or operator.

 
The facility – obtained from software suppliers Idox for a one-off payment – will also include news feeds, announcements and advertisements for relative issues including insurance, replacement car hire, repairs, tyres and valeting.

 
There is also a potential for the council to stream income from the advertisement function.

The council’s Non-Statutory Licensing Committee will discuss the new online portal next Wednesday.

 

www.expressandstar.com