Formal process underway for High Court ruling on taximeters

Transport for London (TfL), which regulates and licenses the taxi and private hire trades in the capital in the interests of passengers, has now begun the formal process for securing a High Court ruling on taximeters.

Formal 'letters before action' have now been issued to Uber and the main trade bodies - the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association and the Licensed Private Hire Car Association - proposing that they will be called to take part in the action being brought by TfL.

TfL is seeking a High Court ruling on whether smart phones that use GPS technology to measure the time and distance of a journey and then receive information about fares comply with current law on 'taximeters', which can only be used in London by taxis.

The rapid pace at which smart phone based technology has been developing in recent years has led to a need for clarity about what is required in order for apps to comply with the regulatory framework in London and to ensure there is a level playing field for all operators.

TfL set out its provisional view that smart phones used by private hire drivers do not constitute the equipping of a vehicle with a ‘taximeter’. However, given the level of concern among the trade, and the fact that some of the legislation in this area is unclear and able to be interpreted in various ways, TfL is inviting the High Court to give a binding determination on this issue.

This move has been welcomed by the pre-eminent authority on taxi law in England and Wales, James Button.

James Button said: “The law on this issue is currently uncertain and open to interpretation. It is therefore a sensible approach to seek a binding ruling from the High Court, where all parties can present their views and the Court will clarify the position.”

Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, said: “The process for securing a High Court ruling on the issue of taximeters is now underway. We hope that London's taxi drivers and private hire drivers and operators recognise that this is the sensible approach and will work with us.

"We welcome developments that make life easier for passengers.  As in many other areas of transport and retail services apps can offer passengers the potential of better and more convenient services, but their use must be legal and on the issue of taximeters the law is unclear.  We have taken a provisional view, and a binding High Court ruling will bring clarity on this issue for all parties."

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EDINBURGH

A TAXI driver who lured a 14-year-old schoolgirl to an empty flat and raped her has been jailed for more than five years.

Mohammad Ashraf, 53, told the teenager that he was taking her to Edinburgh in his cab because he wanted to buy her something. The girl thought they were going shopping but Ashraf took her instead to the flat.

Jailing Ashraf, Judge John Morris QC told him: “You have pled guilty to a very serious sexual assault on a child to whom you owed a duty of care.

“This crime has had a devastating effect on the young girl. Had you not pled guilty when you did, thus saving the young girl from giving evidence, the sentence would have been six years.”

Ashraf, of Netherbank, Liberton, south Edinburgh, admitted raping the girl at a flat in Edinburgh in 2012.

Defence QC Frances McMenamin said that Ashraf took the girl to the flat to talk about a large mobile phone bill she had run up by calling premium numbers on a phone he had given her.

Ms McMenamin added: “The temptation to him of being alone with the girl grew too much and this incident took place.”

The QC said that the Ashrafs came to the UK in the 1980s and stated that his family were standing by him. However, she added: “The shame and dishonour that this has brought on him is perhaps a greater punishment than anything the court can do.”

Ms McMenamin also said that media coverage of the case was, “given the culture from which he comes, an additional devastation.”

Advocate depute David Taylor said the girl told Ashraf that she wanted to leave and that her family would be wondering where she was. But Ashraf ignored her protests and pushed her down and lay on top of her.

The advocate depute said: “She could not get him off, he was too big for her to move.

“He told her the quicker she enjoyed what he was doing and the quicker she got in a good mood, the quicker he would let her go home. The victim kept on asking him if she could go home. He replied ‘No’.”

Mr Taylor said the girl told him to stop and pushed him away before Ashraf told her to “kiss me downstairs”.

“She said she did not want to. The accused told her that he would only let her go home if she did this,” added Mr Taylor.

The prosecutor said that after the assault, Ashraf appeared “annoyed” with the victim and asked her what she would tell her family.

“She told him that she would say that they had been shopping,” he added.

After the girl got home she went straight to her room and sent a text message to her sister, who returned home five minutes later.

The court heard that Ashraf’s DNA was found on swabs taken from the girl, and that her DNA had been present on swabs from him.


Ashraf admitted assaulting and orally raping the teenager on 16 November, 2012.
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STOKE, HANLEY

A TAXI driver was cut out of his car after a crash in the city centre.

The blue Skoda Octavia taxi collided with a silver Citroen C3 at the Bethesda Street junction on the Potteries Way ring road in Hanley shortly after 8.30pm.

The taxi driver was taken to University Hospital of North Staffordshire for treatment.


The ring road was partially blocked while emergency services were in attendance at the scene.
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