Woman held over Dunfermline taxi driver murder bid

Police investigating the attempted murder of a taxi driver in Dunfermline have detained a 46-year-old woman.

Officers said the 59-year-old male taxi driver suffered serious injuries as a result of the incident, which happened in Appin Crescent in the early hours of Sunday.

They said the detained woman was from the local area.

Det Insp John Anderson said there was no threat to the wider community.

He added: "The local community will see a high visibility police presence in the area while we conduct this investigation and we appreciate their patience and cooperation.

"I would like to take this opportunity to reassure the public that we have no information to suggest there is any threat to the wider community."
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Leeds


A BURGLAR was caught thanks to the suspicions of a taxi driver who was called to pick him
up from a house he had broken into.

Hashim Ali was jailed for 18 months over the burglary of a house in Stanmore Street, Burley, Leeds.

Leeds Crown Court heard Ali and a 15-year-old boy forced their way into the house through a window in the early hours of October 31 last year as the people who lived there slept.

They stole a large TV screen, a Playstation, mobile phones and other valuables. Neighbours saw them leaving the property with the items and the pair called a taxi to take them away.

The driver was then asked to take them to another property before dropping them off at a house in Ashley Avenue, Harehills.

Richard Smith, prosecuting, said: “The taxi driver became suspicious and drove around looking for a police car.”

Police went to the property later that day and arrested Ali and the youth after finding the stolen items in the house.

Mr Smith added: “In interview the defendant denied burglary. He said he had gone out with the co-accused and they had found the items.”

He later admitted the offence.

The court heard Ali was out of prison on licence for two offences of robbery at the time of the break-in.

He also has previous convictions for burglary and violence.

Ali, of Oakwood Lane, Leeds, pleaded guilty to burglary.

The court heard the teenager also admitted the offence and was made the subject of a youth rehabilitation order and a curfew.
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Nelson taxi driver pulled out sword during row with motorcyclist

A TAXI driver pulled out an ornamental sword from the boot of his car during a row with a motorcyclist.

Preston Crown Court was told that Mohammed Bukhari, 37, took the weapon out of his car in a street in Nelson after a disagreement with Barry Linden.

Neil Fryman, prosecuting, said the defendant had to be restrained from swinging the sword at his victim, leaving him fearful of another attack.

Reading a statement by Mr Linden to the court, Mr Fryman said: "I see his car. It is in my mind he may seek revenge.

"It is in the back of my mind that there may be some further trouble."

Defending, Mohammed Nawaz said his client, of Walton Lane, did not seek retribution.

He said: "It was an incident that was impulsive and extremely out of character. His life normally resolves around his family and his work."

Bukhari was sentenced to a six-month custodial sentence, which was suspended for 12 months. Bukhari must also pay £250 towards the prosecution's costs.

The statutory surcharge also applied in his case. The court was told how Bukhari had been arrested alongside a woman who was sentenced at an earlier hearing to a 12-month conditional discharge for obstructing a police officer.

Judge Jonathan Gibson told Bukhari: "You had an altercation with somebody else, it seemed to relate to his motorcycle, and you in the end took an ornamental sword from the boot of your car."

He said that a custodial sentenced was justified for anybody 'who wields a weapon, even if for a short time, on the streets in anger'.