GLASGOW

Taxi driver Charles Jackson jailed for storing drugs

A taxi driver who was caught storing cocaine and a mixing agent has been jailed for three years and four months.

Charles Jackson, 53, was caught with cocaine and benzocaine - with a combined value of £51,840 - at his home in Glasgow's Drumchapel area in May.

He admitted being concerned in the supply of drugs.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard he agreed to store the drugs after his taxi had to be taken off the road and he fell into debt to his dealers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-29361046?
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NEWCASTLE

Stalking the streets, businessman Mohammed Malik is caught on CCTV picking up a drunk 20-year-old who thought he was a taxi driver.

The victim got into Malik's car near The Gate complex, on Newgate Street, and asked to be taken the short distance to the place in the city centre where she was staying with friends.
Instead Malik drove her to the West End of Newcastle, parked up in a secluded spot and subjected the young woman to a horrific sex attack.

He was snared after three men spotted the woman getting into the car and texted the registration number to police.
Now the 30-year-old of Arthur's Hill, Newcastle, is facing years in prison after a jury at Newcastle Crown Court convicted him of kidnap and sexual assault.

Prosecutor Julian Smith said the 20-year-old victim was a visitor to the city and had been out celebrating a birthday with friends in March when she started looking for a taxi around 4am.

Mr Smith said: 'The complainant found herself drunk and alone, looking for a taxi.

'Unfortunately for her, the car she got into, believing it to be a taxi, was nothing of the sort. She found herself in the defendant's car, who drove her to a secluded area to the west of the city, away from the city centre.

'He took her away under false pretences, he would not let her leave and he then took the opportunity to seriously sexually assault her.'
The court heard the young woman and her friends had been to a number of bars and ended up in a takeaway near The Gate, at which point the 20-year-old left and went looking for a cab.

She was unsuccessful in trying to hail a taxi outside Sinners bar and so started walking towards the Haymarket, up Newgate Street.

Mr Smith said: 'At that point the defendant's car comes into view driving down the road away from the Haymarket and it stops in the lay-by taxi rank outside Debenhams. She approaches him and speaks to him then gets in the car.'

Malik, who manages a number of properties, including a takeaway, drove off with the woman in his VW Golf estate. Three men passing by saw the woman getting into the car, which they noticed was not a taxi.

They made a note of the registration number and texted it to police.

Malik then drove up Elswick Road with the kidnapped woman, parking up in a secluded spot on Bentinck Road, Elswick.

Despite her screams of protest, he pulled her into the back seat by her arms and legs and subjected her to a sexual assault.

Mr Smith said: 'He would have known she was lost because she told him she was not from round here.

'It lasted some time and eventually, despite having no clue where she was, she told him he made her sick and had the courage to leave the car. She met two drunken good Samaritans who stayed with her.'

Malik then reappeared in his car, acting as if nothing had happened and asking if she was going to get back in. She refused and the passers-by flagged down a genuine taxi to take her back to her friends.

Police were called and when the woman was examined they found bruising to her arms and legs.

Malik was arrested later the same day as a result of his number plate having been sent to the police.

His DNA was also recovered from the victim's clothing. Malik, who had denied kidnap and sexual assault, will be sentenced next month. He was remanded in custody and faces a significant jail term.

Judge John Milford told him: 'Doubtless you have been warned as to the sort of sentence you are likely to receive in terms of years.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2769404/Pictured-Fake-taxi-driver-prowling-streets-moments-kidnapping-sexually-assaulting-young-reveller.html
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Mercedes press Statement.

KPM-UK Taxis PLC Statement

Mercedes-Benz Vans has removed the Taxi franchise from KPM-UK Taxis PLC, based in East London.

We are working hard to ensure our customers are supported during this time and all existing workshop bookings and customer vehicle deliveries are being distributed among local Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle Dealerships.

We are contacting all customers affected by the removal of the franchise from KPM-UK Taxis PLC.

If customers are concerned, they can contact Mercedes-Benz customer service via cs.uk@cac.mercedes-benz.
com or call 00800 9777 7777 or 0207 660 9993.

Ends
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ROTHSCHILD...MAAXI.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-25/rothschild-makes-comeback-with-london-cab-app-to-rival-uber-1-.html

Vulnerable children at risk from taxi licensing reforms

LGA press release 25 September 2014

Plans to relax taxi laws could put children at greater risk of sexual exploitation, councils are warning.

Currently, anyone using a minicab can travel safe in the knowledge that the only person legally allowed to drive the car will have been through a rigorous council vetting process, including criminal records and medical history checks.

New government proposals within the Deregulation Bill, set to return to the House of Lords next month, will mean minicab licence holders will be able to allow other people to drive their vehicle when they are off-duty without any of those checks being carried out.

The Local Government Association, which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, is warning that this will make it easier for criminal gangs to exploit the system and use licensed vehicles to groom, rape and traffic children.

Independent reports into child sexual exploitation in both Rotherham and Rochdale found abusers used their minicabs to target vulnerable children, highlighting the need to ensure controls in this area remain as tight as possible.

Under the new proposals, someone already with a criminal background - such as for alleged sexual assaults, rapes and organised crime - could legally drive a branded vehicle, meaning they could use it to pick up passengers and target vulnerable children.

Cllr Ann Lucas OBE, Chair of the LGA's Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said:

"Recent child sex abuse cases in Rotherham and Rochdale are a stark reminder of the position of trust that people put in taxi drivers and the vulnerability of some passengers.

"There is a determination across local government that nothing like this can be allowed to happen again. That is why we remain deeply concerned about the Government's plan to relax taxi licensing laws which we believe will make it easier for criminal gangs to target vulnerable children for sexual exploitation.

"Anyone getting into a taxi or private hire vehicle should be assured that the only person allowed to drive the car has had their background thoroughly checked and vetted. The consequences for someone entering a branded vehicle where the driver has not been properly licensed and vetted by the council can be devastating. We should not be increasing the chances of that happening.

"Keeping children safe is our top priority and a responsibility councils take extremely seriously. It is imperative that the Government withdraws these plans so councils can continue to fully check everyone getting behind the wheel of a taxi or private hire vehicle to ensure vulnerable children are kept as safe as possible."

Ministers suggest the fact the taxi licensing rules already apply in London means they can be rolled-out nationwide without the public being put at risk.

However, the Metropolitan Police estimate there are more than 1,000 sexual assaults each year involving taxi drivers in London alone.

Cllr Lucas added: "Unlicensed taxis and touting have been endemic in the capital, providing an ideal cover for dangerous sexual predators. Instead of justifying an extension to these licensing rules, the state of the system in London actually provides strong evidence as to exactly why they cannot be rolled out nationwide."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Government has inserted new clauses into the Deregulation Bill that would permit anyone to drive a licensed vehicle. This would mean drivers who have not been through this rigorous council vetting process could use the vehicle. The Bill returns to the House of Lords Committee Stage on October 21

2. The independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 said that "one of the common threads running through CSE across England has been the prominent role of taxi drivers in being directly linked to children who were abused" 

3. Two of the men convicted of running a grooming gang in Rochdale were taxi drivers. An independent review into child sexual exploitation in the town said licensing teams need to understand how they can "contribute to the safeguarding agenda". It recommended tougher regulation by calling for "clarity on a national level" as to how local authorities can "suspend and/or revoke licences for taxi drivers…thereby enabling more robust disruption tactics for CSE"

4. Personal safety charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Police and Crime Commissioners, the National Private Hire Association and the National Taxi Association are also opposing the Government's plans.

5. Anyone looking to operate as a private hire vehicle operator must obtain a vehicle and driver licence from their local council. Driver licences last for three years and vehicle licences for up to one year.

6. Councils can refuse licences if they feel the applicant is not a ‘fit and proper person', if they fail to accept the conditions set to the licence or if the vehicle is deemed not roadworthy and is not covered by adequate insurance. Applicants will also be checked for previous criminal convictions, cautions or motoring offences and whether they have ever had a driving or taxi licence refused, suspended or revoked. A medical certificate is also needed from the applicant's doctor while some councils require them to take a test of their knowledge of the local area.

ENDS

Greg Burns, Senior Media Relations Officer
Local Government Association
Phone: 020 7664 3184 Email: greg.burns@local.gov.uk
Media office (for out of hours contact): 020 7664 3333
Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ.

Comment;

It would appear its Taxi driver's not Private Hire Driver's who are behind the rise in Child Sexual Exploitation cases.

Next they will be saying its mostly Catholics who are doing it. 

www.local.gov.uk 

Follow the LGA press office on 

www.twitter.com/LGANews

London cab drivers brought parts of the capital to a standstill today as they protested against Transport for London's transport policies.

The drivers of black cabs blocked roads in central London around Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square and Whitehall.

The blockade caused the partial closure of the Regent Street, Pall Mall and the Strand close by, causing travel chaos for drivers and bus passengers.

Cabbies took TFL to task over taxi regulation, rickshaws and a proposed "cycle crossrail" scheme and follows a previous high profile protest against taxi app Uber in June.

It's thought up to 4,000 taxis were involved in the protest organised by the London Taxi Drivers Association.

http://www.cityam.com/1411574730/taxi-protest-londond-black-cab-drivers-pictures?

Barring private cabs from London's bus lanes is legal - EU court adviser

Wed Sep 24, 2014 6:20pm IST

* Court decision expected in three to six months

By Julia Fioretti

BRUSSELS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Allowing London's trademark black cabs to use bus lanes while excluding other minicab companies does not constitute illegal state aid, an adviser to the highest European Union court found on Wednesday.

The opinion is the latest stage in a longstanding dispute between the British capital's transport authority and Eventech, which owns a minicab fleet used by the cab firm Addison Lee.

An advocate general, who advises the European court in Luxembourg, found that Transport for London's (TfL) policy of only allowing black cabs to use the city's bus lanes did not constitute an unlawful transfer of public resources -- essentially a subsidy -- to registered taxis.

"Where state authorities make a bus lane on a public road available to black cabs but not to PHVs (private hire vehicles) during the hours of operation of that bus lane, that does not involve a transfer of 'state resources', provided that all comparable undertakings are granted access on equal terms," Advocate General Nils Wahl said in his opinion.

Opinions from advocates general are respected by the court in a majority of cases.

The dispute comes at a time when alternative taxi providers, such as the car-sharing service Uber, have clashed with traditional cabs concerned about what they call unfair competition. The conflict has led to Europe-wide taxi strikes and temporary bans on Uber in Germany.

Eventech had argued that TfL's bus lane policy was an infringement of the freedom to provide services and also amounted to illegal state aid to the benefit of black cabs.

But Wahl rejected those claims, saying that under EU state aid rules it was not necessary for member states to demand payment for access to public infrastructure, such as bus lanes.

"If...state aid rules were interpreted as generally requiring member states to charge for access to public infrastructure or state-controlled resources, this might deter states from creating or opening up areas to which there has previously been no, or only limited access," Wahl said.

Eventech had also argued that exempting black cabs from paying fines for using the bus lanes amounted to an illegal transfer of public money to their benefit, a claim again rejected by Wahl.

The dispute began in 2010 when two of Addison Lee's drivers were fined for driving their cars along a bus lane in central London. Eventech challenged the fines but lost before the High Court, leading to its appeal to the EU's top court. (Editing by Dominic Evans)

What comes first. The Chicken or the Egg.

Two days ago Addisson Lee invite bids for the Company of around £800 million pounds.

That is a 160% profit on the £300 mill they paid for it.

Today internet chatter is that the European ruling on the Bus Lanes is due out Today., the question, wether Hackney Carriages are recieving a benefit, equal to state aid, in being allowed in Bus Lanes whilst our competitors are not.

Is it all a coincidenvce, or, is there a 'Machevalian' hand behind this. ?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/sep/22/minicab-firm-addison-lee-auction-carlyle-group

http://www.prodrivermags.com/news/290-addison-lee-bus-lane-battle-heads-for-european-ruling 

Gedling, arrest in 20 year old Murder.

POLICE have arrested two men on suspicion of murdering a 26-year-old taxi driver nearly 20 years ago.

Ethsham Ghafoor was shot dead in an ‘execution-style’ murder while sitting inside his taxi in the car park of a nursery in Lambley Lane, Gedling, on November 22, 1994.

The men, aged 42 and 43, will be questioned in connection with the inquiry throughout the day.

Mr Ghafoor, known to his friends and family as Shami, was a popular man who lived in Sherwood. More than 1,000 mourners turned out for his funeral at the Islamic Centre, in Curzon Street.

http://www.nottinghampost.com/men-arrested-suspicion-murdering-taxi-driver-20/story-22970293-detail/story.html?

INVERNESS, Need to consult.

Highland Council's proposed taxi fare rises thrown out

Rises in taxi fares proposed by Highland Council have been thrown out by the deputy traffic commissioner for Scotland.

Richard McFarlane said the local authority had failed to consult on the trade on the increases.

He said the fare scales will have to be altered to those fixed in January 2013.

A total of 160 taxi drivers backed an appeal to the commissioner that sought increases higher than those proposed.

Highland Council had proposed raising some tariffs by 30p and a £6.50 supplementary booking charge by £1.

However, taxi operators said higher increases were needed to cover fuel and other costs.

In a written decision, Mr McFarlane said the local authority had not held the required consultation.

He said: "The focus has undoubtedly been on the Inverness operators."

The deputy commissioner said councillors had not had "sufficient information" to properly review the scales for all the different rural communities in the Highlands.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-29331302