http://www.supercabby.co.uk/photos/stormcabs-photos-from-the-demo/
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WASHINGTON, June 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Teamsters International Union Vice President and Local 922 President Ferline Buie about today's worldwide taxi driver protests against Uber.
"As president of Teamsters Local 922 in Washington, D.C., which is affiliated with the Washington, D.C. Taxi Operators Association, I express our solidarity with today's protests by taxi drivers in city after city across Europe. The drivers are calling for fairness and asking that if the private sedan services are allowed to operate that they do so on a level playing field. Uber is currently operating without having to comply with the same rules and regulations that taxi drivers do.
"In Washington, D.C., drivers are asking the same questions and making similar demands. It is time for the D.C. City Council to do its job. We demand that the city council order Uber, Lyft and other private sedan services to cease and desist operations until fair regulations are put in place. We applaud the Commonwealth of Virginia's decision last week to order the private sedan companies to stop operating until fair regulations are in place. The private sedan companies are stealing our members' work and they continue to operate illegally.
"The drivers' fight in Europe is our fight. Their demands for government action are our demands here in Washington, D.C.
"We are watching these protests carefully and they inspire our drivers to keep up the fight for fairness!"
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A fake taxi driver has been found guilty of a serious sexual assault in Surrey
A man, who pretended to be a taxi driver, seriously sexually assaulted woman in Surrey because she was vulnerable.
The 39 year-old has been found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey.
The victim was trying to get home after a night out in London when she got into Paul Causers unlicensed cab on Sunday 3rd August last year.
The court heard throughout the journey Causer touched her inappropriately, ignoring her pleas to stop. He made several attempts to withdraw up to £600 on her bank card, stopping on the way in a bid to take out money, which he was unsuccessful in doing.
He then drove her to Bone Mill Lane in Godstone, forced himself on her and then dumped her on the side of the road. She was found by a local security guard at 4.30am.
Causer - who is from Barfleur Lane in Deptford - will be sentenced in July.
Causer was apprehended following extensive enquiries, including using the 'Where's My Phone' application on the victim's iPhone. Through that officers identified it as being at an address in Swanscombe, Kent where he is known to have spent time.
Causer is also known to have connections in Cornwall, Kent and the London area.
Detective Sergeant Adele Robertson of the Sexual Offences Investigation Team said: "Causer is a dangerous man who specifically targeted the victim, in this case preying on her vulnerability in the early hours of the morning after she had left a nightclub. It was a deeply distressing incident for her and I hope today's verdict will help her move on with her life.
"I would encourage any victim of a sexual offence to come forward to Surrey Police and report any similar incidents."
http://www.964eagle.co.uk/news/local-news/1308836/a-fake-taxi-driver-has-been-found-guilty-of-a-serious-sexual-assault-in-surrey/
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http://www.safe-girl.co.uk/blog/2014/06/the-dangers-of-getting-in-a-minicab/
I was contacted on Twitter this week and asked to highlight the dangers of taking a minicab.
I had not thought of this angle before, and I have to say we at Safe-Girl are very shocked by the statistics.
Police figures show that 214 women were sexually assaulted in the capital last year after getting into illegal minicabs and 54 raped, but studies suggest that so many go unreported the actual amount of sexual attacks could be as many as 700 in a 7 month period.
Just two days ago, a judge issued an alarming warning to minicab passengers that they cannot expect to travel in safety.
Jailing an asylum seeker for eight years for raping a secretary, Recorder Michael Sayers, QC, said those hiring a private taxi simply had no way of knowing the driver’s background.
He called for compulsory licensing of all cab drivers after police checks on the firm where the rapist worked revealed that not one driver was being legally employed.
“It appears that nobody can travel in minicabs with any degree of assurance or safety, as demonstrated by the facts in this case,” said the judge.
“At the moment, when a member of the public takes a cab he has no assurance that the driver is who he claims to be or has got any insurance or driving licence. He has no way of knowing how the driver conducts his business.
“This is something that should be investigated. If minicab drivers are driving around with false identities, it is something that should be looked into and investigated properly. I find it quite a worrying state of affairs.”
The case has highlighted a growing problem in our cities, where a burgeoning nightclub culture and lack of public transport has led to a boom in the use of minicabs.
These are separate from licensed black cabs and are supposed to be booked in advance over the telephone or in person at a central office.
There are around 100,000 private hire drivers in the UK. Powers to license them have been on the statute book since 1998 but the law’s enforcement depends heavily on the policy of the local authority.
In London, men and women desperate to get home have resorted to hailing unlicensed “taxi touts” who ply for trade by driving through the city’s entertainment areas.
Razaq Assadullah, 31, who worked for Speedline Cars in Stratford, East London, was an asylum seeker who came to Britain from Afghanistan in 2000.
He was convicted last December of raping the 28-year-old secretary and was sentenced at the Old Bailey yesterday.
In a reference to the rapist’s background, the judge told him: “You were certainly aware of the gravity of the crime of rape as it would be met by a sentence of death by stoning.”
The woman got into the cab after a night out in a wine bar in Stratford last July.
After dropping off her best friend, Assadullah parked the car and turned off the engine before attacking the woman in the back seat. He stopped only when disturbed by two cyclists.
The Old Bailey heard that Assadullah, from Plaistow, East London, set himself up as a cab driver by buying a false driving licence for £200 and using a false name. Police checks revealed he was driving without insurance.
Further inquiries into the rapist’s firm revealed that each of its 32 drivers was working illegally in some way – either through their immigration status or by claiming benefit while working.
The judge told Assadullah: “With a mixture of arrogance and cynical opportunism you abused your position of trust.
“She was placed in your cab by a friend who paid you to get her home safely.
“She was put through a terrifying ordeal and she faced the added trauma of not knowing whether you might be a murderer as well as a rapist.”
Assadullah, a father of three, was granted leave to remain last year after claiming he had been tortured by the Taliban. The judge recommended his deportation.
Richard Massett, of the London Taxi Drivers’ Association, said: “It’s been five years since regulation was approved in Parliament and nothing has happened.
“We advise women travelling home alone late at night to use a licensed black cab if possible or, if not, to book a minicab by phone and ensure that it comes from the place where they booked it.”
Detective Constable Malcolm Samuels, of the Metropolitan Police, said that because many minicab drivers work on a self-employed basis there is little incentive for the firm’s owner to check on them.
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