LONDON

Two men who forged Transport for London (TfL) private hire licences to illegally operate as minicab drivers have been convicted of fraud and sentenced following Roads and Transport Policing Command investigations.

Masood Sheikh, 60 [31.10.54] of Millfield Avenue, Waltham Forest was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, 15 May after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud.

Hichem Hamilaoui, 44 [31.10.70] of Redcliffe Gardens, Redbridge was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, which has been suspended for two years, at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, 15 May after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud.

Both will now be subject to separate financial investigations by the MPS under the proceeds of crime act.

Both Sheikh and Hamilaoui were arrested after TfL compliance officers visited their operator and, while inspecting their records, identified that they were operating as minicab drivers, even though their private hire licences had been revoked. Inspection of their paper licences showed that they were forged and have been used to fraudulently gain employment with cab companies.

The compliance officers then contacted the Police who attended and arrested the drivers.

Inspector Tracy Allison, Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: “This is an excellent result which has seen two fraudsters receive robust judicial outcomes.
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Nottingham

Licensing officers have launched an investigation into claims a taxi driver tried to charge £33 for a four-mile taxi ride - three times the standard fare.

Gedling Borough Council is looking into allegations from passenger Caroline Coyle that a Gedling Hackney carriage cabbie tried to make her pay the excessive fare for a ride from the city centre to Arnold.



Ms Coyle refused to pay and the driver took her to Arnold Police Station, followed by Oxclose Lane Police Station, in Bestwood, where the fare then ramped up to £42.

Ms Coyle videoed the dispute and posted it to Youtube and Facebook, where it has gone viral, with more than 140,000 views, over 500 likes and 3,000 shares.

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed that officers are aware of the incident, which happened in the early hours of Sunday.

But a police spokesman said: "We were called at 4.22am on Sunday, May 24, but it is classed as a civil dispute."

According to Gedling Borough Council, a standard taxi fare is £3.10 for the first 1.5km and then 13p per 100 metres.

After 11pm and until 6am, drivers can charge a further 25 per cent, so this would be £3.88 then 25p per 100 metres.

So a four-mile journey would be 6.5km and therefore the total cost would be £11.38.


But the fare for the journey was almost three times as much, with almost an extra £10 added for the trip to the police station.

On Ms Coyle's 33-second video clip, she has captured footage of the driver, with the meter displaying £33.26.

She is heard to say: "It costs £33.26 from town to Arnold. £33.26 on a Saturday night, I have never heard anything like it.

"So you are saying we are going to have to pay £33 or else we are not allowed out of the taxi, is that correct?"

The taxi driver remains silent.

A Gedling Borough Council spokesman said: "We take complaints of this nature very seriously and we're currently investigating the matter."

If a driver is found to be breaching the conditions of their licence, including over-charging or not picking up from designated areas, their licence can be revoked or suspended.

To gain a licence, drivers must satisfy a number of criteria, including undergoing a medical test, Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) test and complete The Knowledge test of local routes and landmarks.

Applications for taxi licenses in Gedling rose from 720 in 2011-12 to 1,017 in 2012-13 and 1,629 in 2013-14. There were 567 applications between May last year and December.

Ms Coyle did not wish to comment on the matter.

The taxi company has not been identified.

http://www.nottinghampost.com/Woman-charged-33-mile-taxi-journey/story-26575985-detail/story.html