Addison Lee Bluetooth advert

I said in an earlier post that I thought Addy Lee was pre-emting the Deregulation bill by advertising services.

@DerekDRoberts  corrects me. Addison Lee are licensed under the 1998 Private Hire act (London). That allows them to sub contract anywhere in the Country, including Scotland.

section 5 (2) ;

There is nothing in Manchester's Operators conditions which specifically forbids accepting bookings from London operators, so it would appear Addy Lee can indeed advertise around Manchester and other area's and sub contract to operator's licensed in that area.

No doubt Addy Lee will give the price agreed a quick "haircut" before the sub contractor gets his share.

Addison Lee, Manchester advert.

The following Bluetooth advert was picked up by a Salford P.H. driver in North Manchester at the weekend.

Addy Lee have no reason to advertise in Manchester, they have no vehicles up here to service customers, OR, do they ? ?

Are they pre empting  the forthcoming Deregulation Bill which will let them sub contract around the Country. ? ?

Is it a coincidence that one week tomorrow starts the first of three days to pass the Committee stage of the Dereg bill. This bill could be law by the first Week of November.

Dutch police arrested four drivers in Amsterdam early Sunday after they were found to be improperly using the Uber app for taxi services, posing another challenge to Uber Technologies Inc.’s efforts to expand in Europe.


The four have been released and may be fined as much as 4,200 euros ($5,300) each, Yeter Atmaca, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Environment & Infrastructure’s inspection department, said by phone today. “They were arrested and fined because it is illegal to offer these services without the right permits,” she said.


Governments and regulators in cities around the world are restricting Uber’s business on the grounds it poses safety risks and unfairly competes with licensed taxi services. Cabbies with permits that can cost 200,000 euros apiece have held protests in European cities including London, Madrid, Paris and Berlin.


“This action is unjustified and disproportional,” Uber said in an e-mailed statement today. “We remain in touch with the policy makers to familiarize them with how our technology works and the positive impact it has on mobility.”


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-12/dutch-police-arrest-drivers-using-uber-app-in-amsterdam.html
-------------------------------------------------
Durham Police have called the Claypath the 'Wild West' after taxi drivers scrambling for fares blocked an ambulance

Police have branded a city centre road as the ‘Wild West’ after taxis blocked an ambulance in a late night scramble for fares.


Cabbies at Durham City’s Claypath were banned from the street on Saturday as police shut down the road in the first policing move of its kind.


Their drastic decision came after taxi drivers and other motorists caused traffic jams that stopped an ambulance and police car passing through the area.


A spokesperson for Durham City police, said: “For many months now, Claypath in Durham has been like the wild west on a Friday and Saturday night with taxi drivers flouting rules and causing an obstruction and nuisance by parking without consideration for others.


“Relief officers took direct action after an ambulance and police vehicle were trapped in three deep traffic jams caused by these thoughtless drivers.”


Shutting down the road meant taxi drivers were forced to use the official taxi rank, and prevented Hackney Carriage licenced cars from picking up people on the roadside.


Anthony Hind, who has been driving taxis in Durham City centre for two years, said over the last 12 months the Claypath had become a major headache for the trade - and on Saturday night it was mayhem.


“It is like the Wild West. There’s illegal parking and people drive down and poach passengers for fares. They don’t use the taxi rank and it’s causing a nuisance.


“I don’t think the council have thought about where to put the taxi ranks and the amount of taxis they have licenced.


“It’s not fair what’s happening at the moment. We’ve all got to try and make a living. We are all doing the same job,” he said.


Durham Police issued two drivers with fixed penalty notices for causing an unnecessary obstruction with a motor vehicle with one also being reported for obstructing a police officer.


A third driver will be traced and prosecuted after he failed to comply with police instructions.


It is understood that the ambulance was on its way to an Indian restaurant on the Claypath to help a woman who had taken ill, but who has since recovered.


The police spokesperson said: “We don’t want to tar all taxi drivers with the same brush and would like to put on the record that the majority of drivers using authorised ranks are fair and law abiding people.”


Richard Ormerod, Liberal Democrat County Councillor for Elvet & Gilesgate, said: “There is a taxi rank and that’s what taxi drivers should be using. I would fully expect the police to take appropriate action. You are not allowed to block a highway and the fact it hampered the work of the emergency services confirms all my worst fears. I’ve driven down Claypath when taxis were allowed to park up at night and it was chaos.


“A big worry for me too is that access to Providence Row and The Sands estate would have been blocked which is where a number of elderly residents live.”


However he disputed that there were now too many taxis operating in the city centre following licencing changes.


He said: “In the past there were too few taxis and people were waiting for long periods of time at taxi ranks, and that’s when fights start. At the end of the day it’s a market and there shouldn’t be any kind of monopoly.”


Both taxi drivers and the ambulance service have praised the police’s action on Saturday night.


Ambulance driver Graeme Mountford wrote on the police’s Facebook page: “A huge well done to the relief officer and also Durham police. It’s a nightmare for us attending to an incident on Claypath or in Millennium Square. Well done guys.”


However Anthony Hind, who works for Dunelm Taxis, said he would like to see more changes made to taxi licencing in Durham city centre.


He said: “Many of us have all said that there should be licencing authorities out and about and marshals at ranks.


“It was a good idea to shut down the road, it meant that people had to join the proper taxi ranks.


“They blocked an ambulance getting through at the end of the day and that could have had serious consequences.”


In 2011 Durham County Council changed its taxi licensing rules so that there were limitations on geographic areas where taxi drivers could work.


As long as drivers have a Durham registered plate they can pick up passengers in any part of the county.


More recently they moved a taxi rank at the Claypath to the Prince Bishops shopping centre slip road.


Durham City police’s posting on its Facebook page attracted 100 comments within just a few hours.


Benjamin Tulloch wrote: “I was out tonight (Saturday) and got a taxi home from the designated taxi rank, the driver said how impressed he was at Durham Police closing off Claypath and the positive impact it had so far on his takings and pushing people to the correct queue.”


Former taxi marshall Darren Miller, who worked at the former Claypath rank, said: “There were issues all the time with certain cowboy taxi drivers jumping queues taking business off the legitimate drivers and parking where they shouldn’t be. These marshals should be given the power to give them a ticket.”


http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/durham-street-branded-wild-west-7922087
-------------------------------------------------
Burnley


A taxi firm owner has been fined by magistrates for keeping a poor record in his operator book.
Saeed Mahmood (43), of Chapel House Road, Nelson, was fined a total of £381 at Pennine Magistrates’ Court for the offence between April 3rd and May 2nd, 2014, at his company A1 Tiger Taxis in Burnley.


Mahmood pleaded guilty on the morning of trial on Thursday having pleaded not guilty in July.


Magistrates heard that on occasions in that time period, the method of booking had not been completed, the name of the hirer had not been filled in and the name of the driver was missing.
Mr David Talbot (prosecuting) told the court that the book was not in keeping with the operator’s licence issued by Burnley Council, and that certain criteria had to be filled in to the book.


Mr Talbot said that times of bookings had been changed and were not in order and other entries were difficult to read.


He said this was “unacceptable to the council” and the issue had been brought to Mahmood’s attention and all operators in Burnley in February 2013 when a letter was sent out saying records fell short of what was required.


The firm was inspected on February 4th this year and a further letter was sent out to all operators the following day.


Mr John Rusius (defending) said Mahmood had been an operator since 2006 and that neither the name of the driver had been mentioned as an issue on inspection.


Mr Rusius said Mahmood was “somewhat disappointed” to receive a court summons and on the issue of no hirer name, said people may be reluctant to give their name or personal details.


He added that as long as the operator could read the book he saw no issue and the reason times had changed and entries were not in order in the book was because people ring up and change times and may book for the following day.


Going forward, Mr Rusius concluded that a forum 
had now been set up between the council and operators which he hoped would make things clearer.


http://www.pendletoday.co.uk/news/crime/taxi-firm-owner-fined-for-cutting-corners-1-6887266

A taxi driver employed by Devon County Council allegedly groped a vulnerable teenaged girl as he took her from her supported accommodation to a special school.


Kevin Satterley took the girl from her home to a special needs school in Devon every weekday for seven weeks until she complained to carers she had been abused during the journeys.

The 18-year-old says he showed her pornographic films on a portable DVD player of adults having sex and went on to touch her breasts and private parts.


A teaching assistant at her special school had already reported concerns over Satterley’s behaviour after seeing him pat the girl on the bottom as he escorted her into his taxi, Exeter Crown Court was told.


Satterley, aged 48, of Redburn Road, Paignton, denies four offences of sexual assault by touching.
Mr Lee Bremridge, prosecuting, said the offences happened in July last year when the girl was living in semi-independent supported accommodation.


She was a student at a special needs school and Devon County Council organised and paid for a taxi to take her to and from school each day.


He said the girl sat in the front seat and the police were called in when she complained to carers that Satterley was flirting with her and touching her over her clothing during the 40 minute journeys.
He said the girl told carers he had shown her pornographic videos before touching her and police later recovered a portable DVD with an adult film from the car.


He said the girl’s condition meant her behaviour was more like that of a child of eight to 12 and vocabulary was that of a six-year-old but her outward appearance and presentation were normal.
He said:”Although she can present as a street wise teenager she is in fact a young woman who understands less than she may be given credit for and needs constant help and support.”


He passed the jury an account which she had written for carers in big childish handwriting.
It said:”It was every day and made me watch the portable DVD player. He touched me on my boobs and between my legs and every day he did not stop I asked him to stop.”


Mr Bremridge said the girl told police and carers Satterley flirted with her during the journeys and this progressed to watching DVDs and touching in the weeks before she reported it.


He said the girl’s story was supported by the discovery of the portable DVD player in the car and concerns raised by a receptionist at the school who was worried about the way he patted the girl’s bottom as they walked to the car.


Satterley denied touching the girl or showing her the DVD but said she may have seen him watching it when he was waiting to pick her up.


Mr Bremridge said: "The prosecution case is that he took advantage of his position of trust. He took advantage of her and sexually assaulted her in the way she has described.”


Read more: http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Devon-County-Council-taxi-driver-denies-abusing/story-23055704-detail/story.html?#ixzz3FUC7QSDz
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Newcastle City Council catch out taxi drivers caught working illegally in Newcastle and refusing to take customers on short journeys

Rogue taxi drivers have been caught flouting licensing laws in a council sting.

Dozens of cabbies have been caught out by officials since they launched a city wide crackdown at the beginning of summer.

Today Newcastle City Council has named its worst offenders and wants to assure residents, and particularly students, they have a firm eye on any illegal activity.

Jonathan Bryce, the council’s regulatory licencing manager, said: "These prosecutions show the council’s commitment to pursuing action against anyone who breaks the law.

"We take enforcement very seriously and our role is to ensure that the trade operates legally and to the high standards expected."

In the past few months the council has found an increasing number of Hackney Carriage taxi drivers coming to work in Newcastle whose vehicles are registered to work in Northumberland and Durham.

This means customers are at risk of being picked up in uninsured cars as the vehicle’s haven’t been checked by Newcastle City Council.

Students and residents travelling very short distances, for example from Collingwood Street to Jesmond, have also found that taxi drivers have refused to take them because of the low fares, despite it being illegal to turn down a job.

Others have been ripped off, and have complained to the council that the taxi driver has turned off the metre and instead charged their own fee, like taxi driver Arafath Habib Riyad of Swaledale Gardens, Newcastle.

"We would also like to remind the travelling public that it is an offence for a Hackney Carriage driver to refuse a fare that starts and finishes in Newcastle," said the spokesman.

"It is also an offence for such a driver not to use the fitted meter or to charge more than the legal tariff of fares displayed in the licensed vehicle."

One taxi driver prosecuted by the council, Adil Mohammed, was caught when he picked up a team of council officers in a car not legally registered to be driven in Newcastle. Following a hearing at Newcastle Magistrates Court he was fined £55 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £100.

Stuart Burns, of Benwell Grange Terrace, had carried out a number of journeys without a valid taxi licence.

The council have said that those who have declined fares of just £3 or £4 to take people home after night out in town have gone on to face fines of up to £300.

So far 700 vehicles and drivers have been stopped and checked by the licensing authority at Newcastle City Council alongside Northumbria Police to make sure that driver standards are maintained in the last year.

The council have also written to both Newcastle University and Northumbria University to advise students how to stay safe while using taxis in the city and to report any problems to the council.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/rogue-taxi-drivers-named-shamed-7892376?
------------------------------------------
WARRINGTON

Police appeal over taxi sexual assault


POLICE are appealing for information after a man claiming to be a taxi driver sexually assaulted an 18-year-old passenger.


The victim and two friends were picked up by a taxi outside the Natwest bank in Warrington town centre at around 5.30am on Saturday.


The driver told one of the girls she would need to travel in the front seat with him while her friends sat in the back.


During the journey to a friend’s house in the Bewsey area, the driver asked the girl if he could go into the address and was told no.


A spokesman added: "The driver has allegedly been suggestive in his behaviour during the journey to the address, when they arrived the girl was alone in the taxi momentarily while her friends went into the house at which point it is alleged the driver has sexually assaulted her.


"At this point the girl has left the car and told her friends what has happened and the police were notified."


The driver is described as an Asian man, about 35-years-old, around 5ft 8ins tall, slim build with short dark hair and a trimmed goatee beard and wearing dark clothing.


The car is described as white and possibly a Peugot.

http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/11518920._/?

MADRID

Drivers for the ride-sharing service Uber will receive penalties of up to €18,000 (£14,000, $22,500) and could have their cars immobilised under new laws imposed by Madrid's local government.



The new measures will be seen as a significant victory for the taxi industry in Spain, which has been lobbying against Uber ever since the service launched in the country earlier this year.
 

It has been disputed that drivers who do not hold the proper permits are unable to use their vehicles to transport people for profit under Spanish law.



"We held a meeting in which we expressed the commitment of the community to ensure the safety of users and prevent unfair competition and we will work together with the taxi to inspect and punish pirate vehicles already operating at the airport, Uber phone or applications, " Borja Carabante, Spain's deputy minister of transport, infrastructure and housing, told 20minutos.



The fines imposed will range from €4,000 to €18,000 and will be enforced by local police. It is not yet clear how vehicles operating with Uber will be spotted by authorities when there are no physical markings that distinguish regular cars from Uber cars.



Uber currently operates in over 200 cities across 45 countries around the world and is continuing to expand internationally despite resistance from local taxi organisations and unions.


http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/uber-drivers-spain-face-14000-fines-1468707
-----------------------------------------------------------
DUBLIN


Taxi driver jailed after cocaine worth €200,000 found in boot of his car

Alan Rowe (58) agreed to transport drugs to pay off a debt to dealers

Alan Rowe developed a cocaine habit after the collapse of his marriage, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. Photograph: PA Wire

Alan Rowe developed a cocaine habit after the collapse of his marriage, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

A taxi driver has been jailed for four and a half years after he admitted having over €200,000 worth of cocaine in the boot of his car.

Alan Rowe (58) of Oxmantown Road, Dublin 8 said he agreed to transport the cocaine to pay off a drugs debt. He developed a cocaine habit in his 40s after the collapse of his marriage.

He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply at Collierstown, Co Meath on January 22nd, 2009.

Garda Stephen O’Keefe told Sinead McMullen BL, prosecuting, that after a confidential tip, gardaí followed Rowe in his car and stopped him. During a search of the boot they found six blocks of cocaine wrapped in masking tape. The drugs had an estimated street value of €207,108.

Judge Martin Nolan was told that gardaí later found €58,000 worth of cannabis in his home and €6,000 worth of amphetamines at his business address on North King Street, Dublin.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/taxi-driver-jailed-after-cocaine-worth-200-000-found-in-boot-of-his-car-1.1953678
-----------------------------------------------------


OLDHAM

A taxi driver who tried to avoid a string of speeding fines by inventing another motorist has been jailed.

Mohammed Khawaja, 60, of Oldham, was sentenced to eight months by Manchester Crown Court. He had pleaded guilty to five counts of perverting the course of justice and one of providing false information.

He had been caught speeding by cameras five times between June and December 2013.

But when a notice of intended prosecution was sent to Khawaja, of Chamber Road, he returned it and claimed he had sold the Ford Focus that had been caught on camera to a Mr Mohammed Saleem in June 2013.

The notice was then sent to an unoccupied house and Khawaja falsified a registration document.

His web of lies began to unravel when a family moved into the home and objected to receiving further prosecution notices.

Police found the satellite tracking system in Khawaja’s taxi proved he had been driving it after he claimed to have sold it. He was also found to be paying monthly insurance instalments on the car.

And, contrary to taxi licensing rule,s no record of the car sale could be found. The final nail in Khawaja’s coffin came when a licensing officer even saw him driving the car.

Police Constable Vaughan Sherrah-Davies said: "Khawaja went to great lengths just to avoid paying his speeding fines.

"He concocted an elaborate scheme and invented a totally fictitious person whom he claimed he had sold the offending car just to wriggle out of the offences.

"I am sure now this case has been concluded, as it is highly unlikely he will ever be able to drive a taxi again, he is wondering whether it really was worth it just to avoid getting a fine and points on his licence.

"This case demonstrates what can happen if you provide false information on notices of intended prosecution.

"Warnings are clearly placed on the front of these notices that if you provide false information or pass the notice to another person you risk a far greater fine and possibly imprisonment.

"While I would encourage people not to be tempted to provide false information just to get out of paying £60 – the key message for me is to remind people to just slow down in the first place and respect the speed limit."
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/taxi-driver-who-invented-another-7889192?

Liverpool


A taxi driver has been arrested after a woman was seriously hurt when she was hit by his cab.


Police confirmed they are investigating the incident in Toxteth during the early hours of this morning.


Officers were called to Park Road, close to the junction with Dombey Street, at around 2.40am, following a report that a taxi and a woman had been in collision.


Patrols from the Matrix Serious Organised Crime Roads Policing Unit attended and found a 60-year-old woman with injuries to her head and pelvis.



She has been taken to hospital for treatment. Her condition is described by police as serious.

Police said the taxi driver initially stopped but is then believed to have left the scene.


A short time later, a 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop following a collision and driving whilst unfit.



He has been taken to a police station to be questioned by officers.


Park Road was closed for a number of hours while collision investigators carried out work at the scene.


The road re-opened shortly after 7am.


An investigation into the incident is continuing.



http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/taxi-driver-arrested-after-woman-7887635

Police ignored minicab sex attack leaving driver to strike again just 10 days later - Crime - News - London Evening Standard

Alaksur Rahman, 39, assaulted a media executive as she returned home from a party in Hoxton in June last year, the jury was told.

Police decided to take no further action against Rahman following the attack, and 10 days later he sexually assaulted a PR executive as she headed home from a night out in Shoreditch.

Rahman, of Poplar, was jailed for 30 months at Snaresbrook crown court after he admitted two charges of sexual assault. He has a previous conviction for soliciting for business as a minicab driver.

Sentencing, Judge Martin Zeidman said: “The message is this, woman have a right to be treated decently and that applies whether they are sober or drunk.

“If a drunk woman gets into your cab, as happened on both these occasions, you as a minicab driver are on trust not to take advantage of those women who are intoxicated and vulnerable.”

The court heard that Rahman assaulted the media executive after she booked the cab and shared part of the journey home with another woman.

She became uneasy when the other passenger was dropped off and she was left alone with Rahman.

He fondled her leg as she paid her fare, then put his hand on her shoulder. She pushed him away but he followed her to her front door and she began frantically ringing the bell because she could not find her door keys.

Rahman left the scene when he saw she did not live alone.

The woman described herself as “drunk” but said she was still in control, and said she was terrified by the experience.

The PR executive who was sexually assaulted by Rahman 10 days later after he drove her to a dark residential street said she felt paralysed with fear.

She screamed then sprinted towards a main road, where she called her boyfriend. In a statement, she said: “I was extremely shocked by his actions and I felt he was being opportunistic because I had been drinking heavily.

“I was scared and this was exacerbated by the fact that I couldn’t get out of the car, I was concerned I was going to be raped.”

She added: “I think the driver was extremely surprised by my aggressive reaction.’

The father-of-three, who worked for cab firm Crescent Cars, was then arrested again and charged.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/police-ignored-minicab-sex-attack-leaving-driver-to-strike-again-just-10-days-later-9769023.html
----------------------------------------------------
Comment; When searching this perv's name, I noticed that only one man by that name is registered on any Electoral role. That man is registered in Rochdale and is the same age.

Coincidence or did he need to leave Rochdale for some reason. ?