Eire.
There are few companies that have built up as much goodwill as Hailo. Since it arrived on the scene back in 2012, it has been quickly adopted by the country and has expanded to almost all of Ireland.
But while its focus has been mainly on individuals, the taxi company now setting its sights on both businesses and the hospitality industry.
For the latter, the company is currently testing out a new service called Hailo Hub, a web service designed for the hospitality industry. It allows these services to book taxis for their guests, who provide their name and number and receive notifications through SMS making it accessible for non-smartphone users.
Currently, Hailo is trialing the service with a number of businesses in Dublin, but this new focus doesn’t mean it’s neglecting either individual consumers or businesses, according to the company’s general manager for Ireland, Tim Arnold.
Rather than moving away [from individuals], we’re broadening our focus to include businesses and the hospitality industry. We’ve got a business product for companies who want to give Hailo access to all their employees than separately, we’ve got this solution [Hailo Hub] for the hospitality industry and of course, our regular retail customers. We’re still targeting them as well.”
In recent times, the company has been busy adding new features to its service. Alongside Hailo Hub, it incorporated iBeacon, Apple’s Bluetooth-powered location service which allows later iPhones and Android devices to recognise if you’re in a Hailo taxi, to allow those with the app to jump into a taxi and still pay through the app, as well as a redesign of the core apps.
The other areas it’s improved is its business offerings, mainly providing one central account for companies for employees traveling for work purposes, as well as giving the app a cleaner design.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing though. It recently did hit a setback when it announced it was pulling out of North America recently (and its co-founder and co-CEO Jay Bregman left to focus his attention on drones) but its focus is on Europe and Asia as according to Arnold, “they’re the markets where our model is working” (it recently launched in Singapore).
Scaling in Ireland hasn’t been as difficult, it being the first service of its kind to arrive here certainly helped matters, but its quick expansion meant it became the first country to see almost nationwide coverage which gave it a major advantage.
"What’s interesting is in Ireland, it’s easy to expand as there’s one taxi regulator so all of the regulations, they’re all the same and [usually] it’s a challenge for our driver team to build up those drivers in each market that we go into… now that we’ve got coverage all over the country, and we’ve users all over the country, you find that if you use Hailo in Dublin and you go elsewhere, the first thing you’re going to do is to try Hailo. It encourages more taxi use which is great for taxi drivers across Ireland."
While it’s widespread, Arnold puts their success here down to the overall service it provides. By taking care of the drivers, that feel good factor filters down to customers and keeps everyone happy.
“Our model is the most efficient and economical way for drivers to find customers,” says Arnold. “And when you’ve got happy drivers who provide a great service, you have happy customers.”
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/why-next-step-hailo-involves-those-without-smartphones-070549096.html
Sunday, 16 November 2014
Saturday, 15 November 2014
Manchester Piccadilly Station
Today, Sat 15, we had a four way contraflow outside the Station. Needless to say it was a nightmare.
Then to 'ease' matters along comes this Chump and drops passenger's in the middle of the Contraflow.
I constantly fight the corner of Manchester's Hackney Trade, but honestly, what chance do we have when the Public can see daily, that some of us are completely IGNORANT !
Today, Sat 15, we had a four way contraflow outside the Station. Needless to say it was a nightmare.
Then to 'ease' matters along comes this Chump and drops passenger's in the middle of the Contraflow.
I constantly fight the corner of Manchester's Hackney Trade, but honestly, what chance do we have when the Public can see daily, that some of us are completely IGNORANT !
I give up, in the word's of me old Granddad :
Given the chance, who will ride the Uber Wav ?
This is for those among us who still believe that clause 12 of the Deregulation bill will not hurt us much.
This is for those among us who still believe that clause 12 of the Deregulation bill will not hurt us much.
If you think this will not spread to the UK, where each of the 3 Cities currently hosting Uber are full Wav hackney's. I am afraid you 'need your bumps felt'
Friday, 14 November 2014
LIVERPOOL
Abanezer Befakadu touched passenger’s legs and forcibly kissed one victim so hard she was left with a bruised lip
A Liverpool minicab driver who sexually assaulted three women in his minicab after picking them up was jailed for four years.
Abanezer Befekadu, of Elaine Street, Toxteth, was found guilty after a trial of three separate assaults on female passengers while working for private-hire firms on Merseyside.
In one of the incidents – which all took place within the space of three months last year – the 26-year-old attacker forcibly kissed his victim so hard he bruised her lip and touched her leg after pulling over, leaving her anxious about meeting men, and feeling they may have a sexual agenda.
The first assault took place in the city centre last August, when the taxi driver picked up a woman in her 40s and began asking her inappropriate questions.
She told him to stop the taxi at which point he touched her leg.
A hysterical phone call she made to police was played to the jury during the trial.
In the second assault, in September last year, Befekadu picked up a 17-year-old girl and her friend and again began asking her inappropriate questions, before touching his victim’s leg and pulling her close to him after stopping in Bootle.
The third victim, a woman in her 20s, got into Befekadu’s cab in the city centre with a friend in October last year for a journey to North Wales.
After the first woman was dropped off, the minicab driver again began asking his victim inappropriate questions about boyfriends. He then pulled over on a street in Drury, Flintshire, before leaning over and forcibly kissing her, leaving a bruise on her lip.
In a victim impact statement she said she was left feeling anxious about meeting men and said she could no longer take them at face value.
At Liverpool crown court, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones jailed Befekadu for 12 months consecutively for each of the first two assaults, and two years consecutively for the third.
He was also put on the Sex Offender’s Register indefinitely and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/
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EDINBURGH
TAXI drivers who post footage from in-car security cameras set to be approved by the council online would lose their licence, they have been warned.
Councillors are set to give the final sign-off on Monday for cameras aimed at catching abusive and violent passengers.
Unaffiliated “street cars” are expected to embrace the devices, with more than 200 of the cabs operating in the Capital. However, fears have been raised over cabbies falling foul of data protection laws, with some calling for recorded video to be held by police or council officials.
All black cab and private hire drivers will be able to ask licensing authorities for the right to place cameras in their cars, although individual cabbies will have to meet the cost of equipment and installation.
Under guidelines drawn up by city licensing officials, drivers will have responsibility for keeping any filmed images secure, running the risk of a fine or having their cab licence suspended if they breach the Data Protection Act.
Drivers have been warned by the council not to place any images from their recordings on social media as “a condition of licence”.
Anyone found placing images online faces having their cab licence suspended, and would face a struggle to have the licence renewed after any suspension.
Any cabbie investigated by the Information Commissioner and found to have breached the Data Protection Act could face a fine of up to £500,000.
Tony Kenmuir, director of Central Taxis, said the cameras would be most popular with street car drivers, who do not take bookings and don’t have the support of a dispatch office.
He said: “The question has never been answered about whether the data should be collected by the police or the council, and who would pay for that.
“For me, we would be prepared to manage that as a company and follow any guidelines we were given for the collection and destruction of the data, but I’ve always been of the view that it should be in the hands of the police or the council.”
Philip Capaldi, a veteran Edinburgh cabbie with 32 years’ experience in the trade, said: “If it was in my cab it would only ever be used if the police needed to view evidence.”
Councillor Gavin Barrie, convener of the regulatory committee, said: “Any footage taken would be held by the taxi operators under the terms of the Data Protection Act. It cannot be made public and would only be reviewed by the council, Police Scotland or the Cab Inspector in the event of an alleged incident.
“If anything was released into the public domain, that would become the subject of a report to the committee. I would suggest that the committee would take an extremely dim view of it.”
----------------------------------------------------------
TAXI fares in Edinburgh are to go up from the start of next year.
However, a draft report on fare increases shows controversial late night "party tariff" plans are to be abandoned after concerns it could deter people from taking a cab to get home safely.
The inflation-busting 2.1 per cent general fare increase to rates, set by Edinburgh City Council, will take a two-mile taxi journey after 10pm to £6.60, nearly 20p above the current Scottish average for the same journey.
After 6pm at Christmas 2015 and New Year fares for journeys under half a mile rise from £3.10 to £3.50, but the most expensive Festive night-time tariff of £4.10 is removed.
A standard rate fare stays at £2.10 but that will get travellers a shorter distance.
The party tariff has been abandoned after protests, including from Lothian MSP Kezia Dugdale, who urged a rethink of the scheme.
The candidate for the deputy labour leadership said earlier she had made direct representations on the issue and the axing of the plans would be welcomed.
The report claimed the research showed "62.2% per cent of the public are currently happy with fares".
"However, the figure dips slightly for journeys after 6pm.
"Research indicated the public would not support higher evening fares, even if this increased the availability of taxis."
It said it is not supported by the trade and added "it is, therefore, proposed the increase in fares between 12am and 5am is not approved".
Tony Kenmuir, of Central Radio Taxis, said drivers were content with an increase that would cover expenses, such as fuel increases.
He said: "Our recommendation to the council has been very much that they make small increments. When you take in costs of parts and costs of fuel and other things it is not a rise in real terms. We are quite satisfied to have a modest increase."
Cameron Rose, Edinburgh Tory group leader, said: "People looking for taxis will welcome the rejection of another fare tariff after midnight.
"It keeps things simple and avoiding a fare rise for late night journeys is good news for users.
"But the rate for after midnight should be kept under review because taxi drivers need an incentive to work the anti-social hours after midnight."
The council paid consultants Halcrow £17,000 to conduct research on fares increases, including the party tariff as "Objective One". It carried out 507 surveys across Edinburgh.
Halcrow's report said "discussion with the trade identified they did not feel the need to introduce at this time". It added: "The trade are very aware of the economic situation and did not wish to pursue this during this fare review".
The draft Halcrow report to go before councillors at the regulatory committee next week said: "The majority of authorities have two tariffs - one for day time and one for night time and these apply across the whole week.
The report adds: "The time that the night-time tariff applies does vary with the earliest commencing at 6pm and the latest at 11pm. Dundee, Glasgow and Birmingham have introduced a separate night time tariff for weekends.
"Edinburgh's night-time tariff commences the earliest of all benchmarked authorities.
"Most of the benchmarked authorities night time tariff commences after 7pm. However in Edinburgh it is our understanding 6pm is also when the night-time shift drivers commence."
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport/capital-taxi-fares-to-rise-in-new-year.25855929?utm_source=www.heraldscotland.com&utm_medium=RSS%20Feed&utm_campaign=Scottish%20News
------------------------------------------------------
CHORLEY
A taxi driver who foiled a drunken dangerous driver by snatching keys from the ignition has been commended by a judge.
The cabbie had seen defendant Dean Gallagher, 29, driving a stolen Peugeot Partner van erratically on Preston Road, Clayton le Woods, near Chorley.
The concerned driver followed it onto Buckshaw Hall Lane where it stopped.
He then approached the van and snatched the keys from the ignition.
The van had earlier been stolen from Tootell Street, Chorley.
Recorder Howard Bentham QC, sitting at Preston Crown Court, praised the cabbie for his bravery during Gallagher’s sentencing hearing.
The court heard how in a separate incident, on March 21, Gallagher robbed a lone 15-year-old girl of her mobile phone as she walked down Pilling Lane, Chorley, just before midnight.
He used the phone to call a taxi, then hit her in the stomach and threatened to “kick her head in”.
Layer as he was arrested he ran at a police officer and spat in his face.
The judge sentenced Gallagher, of Batty Street, Manchester, to a total of three years after he pleaded guilty to robbery, assaulting an officer, aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, driving without insurance or a licence, and drink driving.
He was also banned for five years.
DC Andrew Woodward, of South CID, said: “The robbery has had a big effect on the victim and her family.
“His guilty plea avoided her having to go to court.
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/chorley-man-jailed-over-aggravated-van-theft-and-robbing-15-year-old-girl-1-6952473
Abanezer Befakadu touched passenger’s legs and forcibly kissed one victim so hard she was left with a bruised lip
A Liverpool minicab driver who sexually assaulted three women in his minicab after picking them up was jailed for four years.
Abanezer Befekadu, of Elaine Street, Toxteth, was found guilty after a trial of three separate assaults on female passengers while working for private-hire firms on Merseyside.
In one of the incidents – which all took place within the space of three months last year – the 26-year-old attacker forcibly kissed his victim so hard he bruised her lip and touched her leg after pulling over, leaving her anxious about meeting men, and feeling they may have a sexual agenda.
The first assault took place in the city centre last August, when the taxi driver picked up a woman in her 40s and began asking her inappropriate questions.
She told him to stop the taxi at which point he touched her leg.
A hysterical phone call she made to police was played to the jury during the trial.
In the second assault, in September last year, Befekadu picked up a 17-year-old girl and her friend and again began asking her inappropriate questions, before touching his victim’s leg and pulling her close to him after stopping in Bootle.
The third victim, a woman in her 20s, got into Befekadu’s cab in the city centre with a friend in October last year for a journey to North Wales.
After the first woman was dropped off, the minicab driver again began asking his victim inappropriate questions about boyfriends. He then pulled over on a street in Drury, Flintshire, before leaning over and forcibly kissing her, leaving a bruise on her lip.
In a victim impact statement she said she was left feeling anxious about meeting men and said she could no longer take them at face value.
At Liverpool crown court, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones jailed Befekadu for 12 months consecutively for each of the first two assaults, and two years consecutively for the third.
He was also put on the Sex Offender’s Register indefinitely and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
EDINBURGH
TAXI drivers who post footage from in-car security cameras set to be approved by the council online would lose their licence, they have been warned.
Councillors are set to give the final sign-off on Monday for cameras aimed at catching abusive and violent passengers.
Unaffiliated “street cars” are expected to embrace the devices, with more than 200 of the cabs operating in the Capital. However, fears have been raised over cabbies falling foul of data protection laws, with some calling for recorded video to be held by police or council officials.
All black cab and private hire drivers will be able to ask licensing authorities for the right to place cameras in their cars, although individual cabbies will have to meet the cost of equipment and installation.
Under guidelines drawn up by city licensing officials, drivers will have responsibility for keeping any filmed images secure, running the risk of a fine or having their cab licence suspended if they breach the Data Protection Act.
Drivers have been warned by the council not to place any images from their recordings on social media as “a condition of licence”.
Anyone found placing images online faces having their cab licence suspended, and would face a struggle to have the licence renewed after any suspension.
Any cabbie investigated by the Information Commissioner and found to have breached the Data Protection Act could face a fine of up to £500,000.
Tony Kenmuir, director of Central Taxis, said the cameras would be most popular with street car drivers, who do not take bookings and don’t have the support of a dispatch office.
He said: “The question has never been answered about whether the data should be collected by the police or the council, and who would pay for that.
“For me, we would be prepared to manage that as a company and follow any guidelines we were given for the collection and destruction of the data, but I’ve always been of the view that it should be in the hands of the police or the council.”
Philip Capaldi, a veteran Edinburgh cabbie with 32 years’ experience in the trade, said: “If it was in my cab it would only ever be used if the police needed to view evidence.”
Councillor Gavin Barrie, convener of the regulatory committee, said: “Any footage taken would be held by the taxi operators under the terms of the Data Protection Act. It cannot be made public and would only be reviewed by the council, Police Scotland or the Cab Inspector in the event of an alleged incident.
“If anything was released into the public domain, that would become the subject of a report to the committee. I would suggest that the committee would take an extremely dim view of it.”
----------------------------------------------------------
TAXI fares in Edinburgh are to go up from the start of next year.
However, a draft report on fare increases shows controversial late night "party tariff" plans are to be abandoned after concerns it could deter people from taking a cab to get home safely.
The inflation-busting 2.1 per cent general fare increase to rates, set by Edinburgh City Council, will take a two-mile taxi journey after 10pm to £6.60, nearly 20p above the current Scottish average for the same journey.
After 6pm at Christmas 2015 and New Year fares for journeys under half a mile rise from £3.10 to £3.50, but the most expensive Festive night-time tariff of £4.10 is removed.
A standard rate fare stays at £2.10 but that will get travellers a shorter distance.
The party tariff has been abandoned after protests, including from Lothian MSP Kezia Dugdale, who urged a rethink of the scheme.
The candidate for the deputy labour leadership said earlier she had made direct representations on the issue and the axing of the plans would be welcomed.
The report claimed the research showed "62.2% per cent of the public are currently happy with fares".
"However, the figure dips slightly for journeys after 6pm.
"Research indicated the public would not support higher evening fares, even if this increased the availability of taxis."
It said it is not supported by the trade and added "it is, therefore, proposed the increase in fares between 12am and 5am is not approved".
Tony Kenmuir, of Central Radio Taxis, said drivers were content with an increase that would cover expenses, such as fuel increases.
He said: "Our recommendation to the council has been very much that they make small increments. When you take in costs of parts and costs of fuel and other things it is not a rise in real terms. We are quite satisfied to have a modest increase."
Cameron Rose, Edinburgh Tory group leader, said: "People looking for taxis will welcome the rejection of another fare tariff after midnight.
"It keeps things simple and avoiding a fare rise for late night journeys is good news for users.
"But the rate for after midnight should be kept under review because taxi drivers need an incentive to work the anti-social hours after midnight."
The council paid consultants Halcrow £17,000 to conduct research on fares increases, including the party tariff as "Objective One". It carried out 507 surveys across Edinburgh.
Halcrow's report said "discussion with the trade identified they did not feel the need to introduce at this time". It added: "The trade are very aware of the economic situation and did not wish to pursue this during this fare review".
The draft Halcrow report to go before councillors at the regulatory committee next week said: "The majority of authorities have two tariffs - one for day time and one for night time and these apply across the whole week.
The report adds: "The time that the night-time tariff applies does vary with the earliest commencing at 6pm and the latest at 11pm. Dundee, Glasgow and Birmingham have introduced a separate night time tariff for weekends.
"Edinburgh's night-time tariff commences the earliest of all benchmarked authorities.
"Most of the benchmarked authorities night time tariff commences after 7pm. However in Edinburgh it is our understanding 6pm is also when the night-time shift drivers commence."
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport/capital-taxi-fares-to-rise-in-new-year.25855929?utm_source=www.heraldscotland.com&utm_medium=RSS%20Feed&utm_campaign=Scottish%20News
------------------------------------------------------
CHORLEY
A taxi driver who foiled a drunken dangerous driver by snatching keys from the ignition has been commended by a judge.
The cabbie had seen defendant Dean Gallagher, 29, driving a stolen Peugeot Partner van erratically on Preston Road, Clayton le Woods, near Chorley.
The concerned driver followed it onto Buckshaw Hall Lane where it stopped.
He then approached the van and snatched the keys from the ignition.
The van had earlier been stolen from Tootell Street, Chorley.
Recorder Howard Bentham QC, sitting at Preston Crown Court, praised the cabbie for his bravery during Gallagher’s sentencing hearing.
The court heard how in a separate incident, on March 21, Gallagher robbed a lone 15-year-old girl of her mobile phone as she walked down Pilling Lane, Chorley, just before midnight.
He used the phone to call a taxi, then hit her in the stomach and threatened to “kick her head in”.
Layer as he was arrested he ran at a police officer and spat in his face.
The judge sentenced Gallagher, of Batty Street, Manchester, to a total of three years after he pleaded guilty to robbery, assaulting an officer, aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, driving without insurance or a licence, and drink driving.
He was also banned for five years.
DC Andrew Woodward, of South CID, said: “The robbery has had a big effect on the victim and her family.
“His guilty plea avoided her having to go to court.
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/chorley-man-jailed-over-aggravated-van-theft-and-robbing-15-year-old-girl-1-6952473
Thursday, 13 November 2014
PARIS (Reuters) - Parisians will be able to share rides with strangers by hailing cars via their smartphones from Friday, when fast-growing U.S. start-up Uber launches its new service in defiance of an imminent legal challenge.
Taxi drivers have complained that Uber has hit their business unfairly as it has expanded rapidly over the four years since its launch. The venture-capital backed firm valued at $18 billion now operates in 25 European cities and has sparked legal cases and taxi protests from London to Rome.
Dubbed UberPool, the service will be added to the Uber mobile phone app in the often traffic-clogged French capital, offering rides from non-professional drivers in their own cars.
But the new service comes only one week before a court challenge brought by rivals over whether it is legal for Uber to offer rides from non-professional drivers in a service known as UberPop.
The Paris Commercial Court is expected to decide whether UberPop, and by extension the new UberPool shared ride service, competes unfairly with rivals such as taxis.
"We obviously take legal processes seriously, and we will respond when needed to court decisions in the countries where we operate," said Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty on Thursday, Uber's head of Western Europe.
"But we will never accept to make changes that are against our customers' interests unless we are forced to."
Courts in Berlin and Hamburg have banned Uber's classic limousine pick-up service UberBlack as well as UberPop, the newer service that links private drivers with passengers.
As a result, Uber, which operates in 250 cities worldwide, dropped its UberPop prices in Germany to comply with local rules that say people can share rides but not for a profit. Since that led to fewer drivers being willing to take riders, Uber recently decided to allow regular taxi drivers to book fares on its app.
Gore-Coty acknowledged that UberPop had basically been rendered unattractive in Germany by the courts. "The court decision disincentivised drivers so we are bringing in taxis in a way to solve that problem and show that we are an open platform."
Uber is also bending to another court demand there by applying for an official operators' licence, he added.
In France, another showdown is brewing over a taxi and car service law passed in mid-September. The law banned Uber and other car services from using GPS technology to display where cars and customers were located, a key feature of the apps, and said such an approach could only be used by licensed taxis.
It also required drivers of car services to return to their despatch between fares.
To face the challenges ahead, Uber is flush with $1.2 billion raised from investors in June, including Google Ventures and Black Rock Inc. among others. The Financial Times last week reported that it was in early talks to raise another $1 billion.
The company's deep pockets allow it to recruit top lobbyists. In September, it named Mark MacGann, the former head of government affairs for NYSE Euronext, as its representative in Brussels, and U.S. President Barack Obama's former campaign manager David Plouffe is on the payroll in Washington D.C.
Gore-Coty said he was optimistic that some countries such as the Netherlands and Spain were taking a more positive view of Uber and other shared-transport schemes.
"The situation is not dark everywhere in Europe as it may seem," said the executive. "Where you have most tension is where the taxi industry has been the most protected, but we are starting to see things move positively."
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uber-tests-french-tolerance-car-share-scheme-195324971--sector.html#qJpLdeS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Taxi customers in Hitchin are being warned of a second strike from 5pm to 10pm today following Saturday evening’s walkout which involved more than 50 owner drivers in town.
The dispute centres on North Herts District Council’s decision to reduce the drivers’ flag rate from £3.40 over the first 0.7 miles of a fare to £3, which will come into force on December 1.
Taxi driver Shamriz Khan, who helped lead Saturday’s strike and is supporting today’s action, told the Comet: “No more than eight drivers out of 50 or 60 turned up for work in Hitchin on Saturday night – which is testament to the fact the council has simply not listened to a word taxi drivers have said to them.
“We also know around eight to 10 drivers in Letchworth also didn’t go to work, and we have plans to spread it throughout other towns in the area if the council continue not to listen to us.
“I’ve been driving taxis for 14 years and have never had a customer complain the tariff was too high. Owner drivers are losing 25p to 30p per fare. It’s unacceptable – anyone who has had two wage cuts in two years would feel this way. We’re all family people but we are far worse off now than we were five years ago in terms of drivers pay.
“The message we are trying to send the council is we don’t want an increase in fares, but we don’t want a reduction either – we just want them to leave it as it is.
“We don’t want to inconvenience the public but the council isn’t listening to us. We are printing 1,000 leaflets to give to as many commuters as possible on Thursday to tell them of our plans. Many of our customers have already asked us how they can support us. None of us want to take strike action as we lose a day’s pay – but the council are acting like a dictatorship in pushing through these plans without consulting us.”
Councillor Bernard Lovewell, responsible for Housing and Environmental Health said: ‘We remain committed to working with the local taxi trade, however we also have to take into account the needs of their customers. The decision to reduce the current taxi fares from 1 December 2014 to bring them more in line with national and regional averages, was based on balancing the need for a viable local taxi service against ensuring taxis remain affordable for all sections of the community, particularly the elderly and vulnerable.”
Muktar Thind, manager of Boxhall Taxis who helped hand out leaflets to commuters at Hitchin Railway Station said: “We need to make the public aware of what we are doing, We don’t want to inconvenience anyone but we need to let the public know about the cut in wages taxi drivers face.
Roger Lafferty of Castles Taxi in Hitchin said: “The council never listen to us, they are destroying the taxi industry in Hitchin. I feel sorry for the independent drivers here because the council is asking them to take a pay cut – didn’t some people at NHDC receive an 18 per cent pay rise last year? “So how can they then tell taxi drivers to take a pay cut? I broadly supported the strike and I made sure none of my drivers picked up from cab ranks.
“I don’t think the council fully appreciate the service we provide in the community, as we help a lot of people on unsocial shifts get to work including nurses and carers. The council are crucifying the taxi trade in Hitchin.”
Hitchin commuter Stewart Scott from The Ridgeway told the Comet: “As someone who commutes to London every day, and as someone who occasionally has after-work drinks and gets later trains back to Hitchin I do use taxis to get home from the station. I say good luck to the strikers as no-one wants their wages cut do they?”
-------------------------------------------
Durham
A TAXI driver can remain in business on the road after overturning a licence revocation.
But a judge warned Branislav Kobylan over his future behaviour if he wants to retain his licence, following several brushes with authority in recent years
Durham Crown Court heard he was considered, “an irritant, a pest and a nuisance”, by some traffic control and police officers, plus other cabbies.
The court heard he could be argumentative and abusive in clashes with other drivers and enforcement officers, often for obstructing the highway.
Kobylan was previously cautioned, having been found with a CS gas canister and three samurai swords in his vehicle, which he said was, “for protection”.
Other incidents followed leading to his licence being revoked by Durham County Council in March, a decision upheld at a subsequent hearing before North Durham magistrates, in Peterlee, in July.
But as Kobylan, of Christchurch Place, Peterlee, lodged an appeal against that decision, the revocation was suspended pending the outcome of today’s (Thursday November 13) appeal hearing.
David Comb, responding to the appeal on behalf of the county council, said two incidents in four days last December “triggered” the revocation.
In one he offered a traffic enforcement officer a £5 bribe and some sweets after being asked to leave a loading bay. He later claimed it was “a joke”.
Four days later he clashed with police, including an inspector, when asked to move on, twice in 75 minutes in the early hours in a congested Claypath.
Mr Comb said Kobylan initially refused, becoming, “angry, argumentative and confrontational, in unpleasant exchanges”.
Jamie Adams, for the appellant, said: “There are a limited amount of taxi ranks in Durham, fought over by too large a number of drivers.”
Mr Adams said the 35-year-old Slovak national had suffered racist abuse from other drivers, telling him to go back to his homeland, in previous clashes.
“Clearly there has been some antipathy with other taxi drivers.
“But he now accepts he should address complaints through the correct channels.
“He tells me he does respect the police and council, but he accepts, in the past, becoming frustrated and argumentative when he should have just moved on.”
Mr Adams added that none of the complaints were from fare-paying customers over the standard of his driving.
Upholding the appeal, Judge Robert Adams, sitting with two magistrates, said the council licensing committee was right to revoke the licence.
“Let me make it absolutely clear your appeal has succeeded based entirely on what we have heard today.
“You must recognise how wholly inappropriate your behaviour was, in 2013.
“Make sure it’s not repeated.”
A costs order was made for Kobylan, but only covering the appeal, and not for previous hearings.
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/
Taxi drivers have complained that Uber has hit their business unfairly as it has expanded rapidly over the four years since its launch. The venture-capital backed firm valued at $18 billion now operates in 25 European cities and has sparked legal cases and taxi protests from London to Rome.
Dubbed UberPool, the service will be added to the Uber mobile phone app in the often traffic-clogged French capital, offering rides from non-professional drivers in their own cars.
But the new service comes only one week before a court challenge brought by rivals over whether it is legal for Uber to offer rides from non-professional drivers in a service known as UberPop.
The Paris Commercial Court is expected to decide whether UberPop, and by extension the new UberPool shared ride service, competes unfairly with rivals such as taxis.
"We obviously take legal processes seriously, and we will respond when needed to court decisions in the countries where we operate," said Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty on Thursday, Uber's head of Western Europe.
"But we will never accept to make changes that are against our customers' interests unless we are forced to."
Courts in Berlin and Hamburg have banned Uber's classic limousine pick-up service UberBlack as well as UberPop, the newer service that links private drivers with passengers.
As a result, Uber, which operates in 250 cities worldwide, dropped its UberPop prices in Germany to comply with local rules that say people can share rides but not for a profit. Since that led to fewer drivers being willing to take riders, Uber recently decided to allow regular taxi drivers to book fares on its app.
Gore-Coty acknowledged that UberPop had basically been rendered unattractive in Germany by the courts. "The court decision disincentivised drivers so we are bringing in taxis in a way to solve that problem and show that we are an open platform."
Uber is also bending to another court demand there by applying for an official operators' licence, he added.
In France, another showdown is brewing over a taxi and car service law passed in mid-September. The law banned Uber and other car services from using GPS technology to display where cars and customers were located, a key feature of the apps, and said such an approach could only be used by licensed taxis.
It also required drivers of car services to return to their despatch between fares.
To face the challenges ahead, Uber is flush with $1.2 billion raised from investors in June, including Google Ventures and Black Rock Inc. among others. The Financial Times last week reported that it was in early talks to raise another $1 billion.
The company's deep pockets allow it to recruit top lobbyists. In September, it named Mark MacGann, the former head of government affairs for NYSE Euronext, as its representative in Brussels, and U.S. President Barack Obama's former campaign manager David Plouffe is on the payroll in Washington D.C.
Gore-Coty said he was optimistic that some countries such as the Netherlands and Spain were taking a more positive view of Uber and other shared-transport schemes.
"The situation is not dark everywhere in Europe as it may seem," said the executive. "Where you have most tension is where the taxi industry has been the most protected, but we are starting to see things move positively."
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uber-tests-french-tolerance-car-share-scheme-195324971--sector.html#qJpLdeS
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Taxi customers in Hitchin are being warned of a second strike from 5pm to 10pm today following Saturday evening’s walkout which involved more than 50 owner drivers in town.
The dispute centres on North Herts District Council’s decision to reduce the drivers’ flag rate from £3.40 over the first 0.7 miles of a fare to £3, which will come into force on December 1.
Taxi driver Shamriz Khan, who helped lead Saturday’s strike and is supporting today’s action, told the Comet: “No more than eight drivers out of 50 or 60 turned up for work in Hitchin on Saturday night – which is testament to the fact the council has simply not listened to a word taxi drivers have said to them.
“We also know around eight to 10 drivers in Letchworth also didn’t go to work, and we have plans to spread it throughout other towns in the area if the council continue not to listen to us.
“I’ve been driving taxis for 14 years and have never had a customer complain the tariff was too high. Owner drivers are losing 25p to 30p per fare. It’s unacceptable – anyone who has had two wage cuts in two years would feel this way. We’re all family people but we are far worse off now than we were five years ago in terms of drivers pay.
“The message we are trying to send the council is we don’t want an increase in fares, but we don’t want a reduction either – we just want them to leave it as it is.
“We don’t want to inconvenience the public but the council isn’t listening to us. We are printing 1,000 leaflets to give to as many commuters as possible on Thursday to tell them of our plans. Many of our customers have already asked us how they can support us. None of us want to take strike action as we lose a day’s pay – but the council are acting like a dictatorship in pushing through these plans without consulting us.”
Councillor Bernard Lovewell, responsible for Housing and Environmental Health said: ‘We remain committed to working with the local taxi trade, however we also have to take into account the needs of their customers. The decision to reduce the current taxi fares from 1 December 2014 to bring them more in line with national and regional averages, was based on balancing the need for a viable local taxi service against ensuring taxis remain affordable for all sections of the community, particularly the elderly and vulnerable.”
Muktar Thind, manager of Boxhall Taxis who helped hand out leaflets to commuters at Hitchin Railway Station said: “We need to make the public aware of what we are doing, We don’t want to inconvenience anyone but we need to let the public know about the cut in wages taxi drivers face.
Roger Lafferty of Castles Taxi in Hitchin said: “The council never listen to us, they are destroying the taxi industry in Hitchin. I feel sorry for the independent drivers here because the council is asking them to take a pay cut – didn’t some people at NHDC receive an 18 per cent pay rise last year? “So how can they then tell taxi drivers to take a pay cut? I broadly supported the strike and I made sure none of my drivers picked up from cab ranks.
“I don’t think the council fully appreciate the service we provide in the community, as we help a lot of people on unsocial shifts get to work including nurses and carers. The council are crucifying the taxi trade in Hitchin.”
Hitchin commuter Stewart Scott from The Ridgeway told the Comet: “As someone who commutes to London every day, and as someone who occasionally has after-work drinks and gets later trains back to Hitchin I do use taxis to get home from the station. I say good luck to the strikers as no-one wants their wages cut do they?”
-------------------------------------------
Durham
A TAXI driver can remain in business on the road after overturning a licence revocation.
But a judge warned Branislav Kobylan over his future behaviour if he wants to retain his licence, following several brushes with authority in recent years
Durham Crown Court heard he was considered, “an irritant, a pest and a nuisance”, by some traffic control and police officers, plus other cabbies.
The court heard he could be argumentative and abusive in clashes with other drivers and enforcement officers, often for obstructing the highway.
Kobylan was previously cautioned, having been found with a CS gas canister and three samurai swords in his vehicle, which he said was, “for protection”.
Other incidents followed leading to his licence being revoked by Durham County Council in March, a decision upheld at a subsequent hearing before North Durham magistrates, in Peterlee, in July.
But as Kobylan, of Christchurch Place, Peterlee, lodged an appeal against that decision, the revocation was suspended pending the outcome of today’s (Thursday November 13) appeal hearing.
David Comb, responding to the appeal on behalf of the county council, said two incidents in four days last December “triggered” the revocation.
In one he offered a traffic enforcement officer a £5 bribe and some sweets after being asked to leave a loading bay. He later claimed it was “a joke”.
Four days later he clashed with police, including an inspector, when asked to move on, twice in 75 minutes in the early hours in a congested Claypath.
Mr Comb said Kobylan initially refused, becoming, “angry, argumentative and confrontational, in unpleasant exchanges”.
Jamie Adams, for the appellant, said: “There are a limited amount of taxi ranks in Durham, fought over by too large a number of drivers.”
Mr Adams said the 35-year-old Slovak national had suffered racist abuse from other drivers, telling him to go back to his homeland, in previous clashes.
“Clearly there has been some antipathy with other taxi drivers.
“But he now accepts he should address complaints through the correct channels.
“He tells me he does respect the police and council, but he accepts, in the past, becoming frustrated and argumentative when he should have just moved on.”
Mr Adams added that none of the complaints were from fare-paying customers over the standard of his driving.
Upholding the appeal, Judge Robert Adams, sitting with two magistrates, said the council licensing committee was right to revoke the licence.
“Let me make it absolutely clear your appeal has succeeded based entirely on what we have heard today.
“You must recognise how wholly inappropriate your behaviour was, in 2013.
“Make sure it’s not repeated.”
A costs order was made for Kobylan, but only covering the appeal, and not for previous hearings.
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/
I have been asked to make the following retraction to the post earlier concerning Jumpin and Comcab.
----------------------------------------------
Thanks for getting back to us on Twitter. I’m Sam, co-founder of JumpIn.
We recently came across the article you’ve posted on your website and would like to clarify some inaccurate statements that have been made:
1. At no point have ComCab or Cityfleet owned a stake in JumpIn. The partnership we made with ComCab was merely a supply agreement in Birmingham and Liverpool, that at the time, gave sole supply to ComCab’s networks in those locations.
2. Since starting talks and selling the business to Addison Lee, we ended our partnership ComCab and at the same time, stopped our operations in Birmingham and Liverpool.
I hope that clarifies the situation and we would very much appreciate if you could retract the statements made in the article.
Many thanks for your cooperation.
Sam Ryan
------------------------------------------
Addison Lee go National, through the back door.
'Jumpin' a Taxi service app designed by Leeds University Students.
Jumpin is an app to give Students a safe, shared if wished, professional TAXI service around Leeds.
The team aquire funding by entering a partnership with 'Comcab' the London based Hackney service owned by the Singapore giant, Comfortdelgro.
All well and good, Jumpin rolls out in Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Birmingham. It promises to start in all 'University' Cities. A great idea, without doubt. Until September 1. Comcab for some reason, sell the operation to Addison Lee.
Addison Lee are now in a position to launch their private hire business in the UK's major Cities, all in one acquisition.
----------------------------------------------
Thanks for getting back to us on Twitter. I’m Sam, co-founder of JumpIn.
We recently came across the article you’ve posted on your website and would like to clarify some inaccurate statements that have been made:
1. At no point have ComCab or Cityfleet owned a stake in JumpIn. The partnership we made with ComCab was merely a supply agreement in Birmingham and Liverpool, that at the time, gave sole supply to ComCab’s networks in those locations.
2. Since starting talks and selling the business to Addison Lee, we ended our partnership ComCab and at the same time, stopped our operations in Birmingham and Liverpool.
I hope that clarifies the situation and we would very much appreciate if you could retract the statements made in the article.
Many thanks for your cooperation.
Sam Ryan
------------------------------------------
Addison Lee go National, through the back door.
'Jumpin' a Taxi service app designed by Leeds University Students.
Jumpin is an app to give Students a safe, shared if wished, professional TAXI service around Leeds.
The team aquire funding by entering a partnership with 'Comcab' the London based Hackney service owned by the Singapore giant, Comfortdelgro.
Addison Lee are now in a position to launch their private hire business in the UK's major Cities, all in one acquisition.
Do you still think we have nothing to worry about, when Clause 12 is passed and P.H.Cars from all over the Country descend on any Town or City with a nightlife and single drunk girl's walking the streets. ?
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
BRADFORD
A minicab driver, his uncle and nephew are accused of raping a drunk schoolteacher on a park bench after abducting and trafficking her from his minicab, a court heard.
The unconscious woman is alleged to have passed out after drinking at a birthday celebration before she came round to find one of her abusers having sex with her.
Private hire driver Tamseel Virk, 42; uncle and nephew, Azad Raja, 38, and Wakar Akhtar, 21, along with Najeem Ul-Saeed, 31, all of Bradford, West Yorks, are standing trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of conspiracy to rape between May 25 and 26 this year.
Prosecutor Andrew Kershaw told the jury that Virk picked up the woman from a street in Leeds, West Yorks., in breach of his licence, shortly before midnight on May 25.
Mr Kershaw suggested the fare was not reported to Virk’s controller because he had identified a vulnerable woman who could be sexually exploited.
The court heard she was ‘noticeably affected’ after drinking lager and whisky in a pub with friends, ‘talking gibberish’ and left her jacket, handbag and phone behind.
Mr Kershaw said Virk ‘delivered’ her to Akhtar and Raja, getting her to commit a sex act on him on the way.
The jury heard she was dropped off near their home and raped in turn on a bench in Great Horton Park, Bradford, while she was unconscious.
Mr Kershaw said: “They manhandled her, causing bruises and minor injuries to both of her knees, as if she were put in a kneeling position on the ground.”
The jury was told the victim woke up while Raja was having sex with her. Akhtar is alleged to have told her he had already had sex with her.
Ul-Saeed, the lawyer added, then turned up ‘too late physically to join in the rape that he had set up.’
Mr Kershaw added: “The prosecution case is that there was a conspiracy to rape (the woman) while she was in no fit state either to consent or resist.
“Akhtar and Raja conspired to rape her because they both agreed to do so; to take delivery of her and rape her together in each other’s presence.
“Virk, the prosecution say, is part of the same agreement because he delivered the girl to Akhtar and Raja for them to rape her.
“Virk knew that she was in no fit state to consent or resist because he had been able to abduct her to Great Horton Park, rather than take her home.
“Ul-Saeed is also part of the same agreement because he trafficked her from Virk to Akhtar and arranged where and to whom she was to be delivered; he tried to organise a hotel room and attended at the park to join in but was too late because she had regained consciousness by then.”
The four men deny the charges and the trial continues.
----------------------------------------------------------------
CANTERBURY
A cabbie who stole from vulnerable and elderly passengers has been banned from driving taxis for ten years.
The rare restriction followed 45-year-old Lorraine Heusser admitting eight charges of pilfering from people in Whitstable – including a 91-year-old victim.
Now a judge, branding her “mean and despicable”, has slapped her with a court order preventing her from driving a cab until 2024.
She left Canterbury Crown Court shielding her face and then drove away wearing a Guy Fawkes-style mask.
But Heusser, of Cordingham Close, Seasalter, avoided an immediate jail sentence after pleading guilty to all the thefts.
Judge Adele Williams told her that if she had gone to trial and forced her victims, aged between 24 and 91 years old, to give evidence she would have been sent down immediately.
After initially denying the offences her lawyer asked for an indication from the judge for a likely sentence if she changed her pleas to guilty.
And after hearing she wouldn’t be jailed immediately, Heusser promptly admitted her guilt.
Instead she received a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years and was told she had to remain under partial house arrest for the next six months – unable to leave her home between 9pm and 6am.
She was also ordered to repay the £742 she took from her victims at £20 a week – after her lawyer Kerry Waite told the judge she was now on benefits.
The judge also heard Heusser was quizzed three times by police, but twice no action was taken, and even after she was eventually charged and bailed she carried on stealing.
Prosecutor James Ross revealed how Heusser – who worked for the Whitstable Taxi Company – deliberately targeted mainly the elderly or vulnerable.
“These offences, in my judgement, are mean and despicable. They are thefts from victims who were either elderly and or vulnerable” – Judge Adele Williams
On February 27, 2013, Heusser responded to a call to collect 83-year-old Violet Wood who wanted to go shopping in Tesco.
Mr Ross said: “Mrs Wood has mobility issues after recently recovering from a heart attack. She handed the taxi driver her bag as she got in. When she drove off Mrs Wood noticed her £20 purse was missing from her bag as was £55 in cash.”
Mrs Wood later alerted police who spoke to Heusser but no action was taken against her, the court heard.
In September 2013, Lacey Smith, a 24-year-old woman left her handbag in the porch at her parents’ address. At midnight, Heusser turned up to collect a friend of Ms Smith.
The prosecutor added: “She thought it strange that rather than sit in the taxi, Heusser stood in the porch. Ms Smith noticed later that her bag and purse and £250 had gone missing.
Again Heusser was quizzed by police but no action was taken, the court heard.
On October 22, the cabby struck again with a 66-year-old Tracy Edwards who wanted to go from Whitstable town centre to her home address – again a purse and £20 went missing.
Also in the summer of 2013, Heusser stole from 79-year-old Kathleen Beach, who had a hip replacement operation, and ordered a taxi from Tesco in Whitstable.
The driver told her to hand over her bag while she struggled to get inside the cab and when it was returned Heusser zipped it up.
Mr Ross said: “She was then seen to drive away with her fist clenched… and £190 was missing.”
The court also heard that during the summer, 83-year-old Mary Cook was targeted twice – first when £10 vanished, and £30 on a second occasion.
On March 4 this year Heusser stole from 91-year-old Enid Dale, who had booked a taxi from Whitstable to her home, and was told to hand over her bag as she got into the vehicle.
Mr Ross said: “Once seated inside the car, Heusser put the Ms Dale’s bag into the foot well and when it was handed back the victim noticed it was lighter. The purse, worth £10, and £132 in cash and bank cards had gone.”
Ms Dale called Whitstable Taxis and was told to alert the police and Heusser was bailed but on May 9 she struck again.
This time her victim was 90-year-old Doreen Parrot who was collected from Chestifield Medical Centre and driven to her home, where she found £20 was missing from her bag.
Mr Waitt, defending, said Heusser now wished to apologise to her victims and felt “great shame” about what she did.
Judge Williams told her: “These offences, in my judgement, are mean and despicable. They are thefts from victims who were either elderly and or vulnerable.”
A minicab driver, his uncle and nephew are accused of raping a drunk schoolteacher on a park bench after abducting and trafficking her from his minicab, a court heard.
The unconscious woman is alleged to have passed out after drinking at a birthday celebration before she came round to find one of her abusers having sex with her.
Private hire driver Tamseel Virk, 42; uncle and nephew, Azad Raja, 38, and Wakar Akhtar, 21, along with Najeem Ul-Saeed, 31, all of Bradford, West Yorks, are standing trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of conspiracy to rape between May 25 and 26 this year.
Prosecutor Andrew Kershaw told the jury that Virk picked up the woman from a street in Leeds, West Yorks., in breach of his licence, shortly before midnight on May 25.
Mr Kershaw suggested the fare was not reported to Virk’s controller because he had identified a vulnerable woman who could be sexually exploited.
The court heard she was ‘noticeably affected’ after drinking lager and whisky in a pub with friends, ‘talking gibberish’ and left her jacket, handbag and phone behind.
Mr Kershaw said Virk ‘delivered’ her to Akhtar and Raja, getting her to commit a sex act on him on the way.
The jury heard she was dropped off near their home and raped in turn on a bench in Great Horton Park, Bradford, while she was unconscious.
Mr Kershaw said: “They manhandled her, causing bruises and minor injuries to both of her knees, as if she were put in a kneeling position on the ground.”
The jury was told the victim woke up while Raja was having sex with her. Akhtar is alleged to have told her he had already had sex with her.
Ul-Saeed, the lawyer added, then turned up ‘too late physically to join in the rape that he had set up.’
Mr Kershaw added: “The prosecution case is that there was a conspiracy to rape (the woman) while she was in no fit state either to consent or resist.
“Akhtar and Raja conspired to rape her because they both agreed to do so; to take delivery of her and rape her together in each other’s presence.
“Virk, the prosecution say, is part of the same agreement because he delivered the girl to Akhtar and Raja for them to rape her.
“Virk knew that she was in no fit state to consent or resist because he had been able to abduct her to Great Horton Park, rather than take her home.
“Ul-Saeed is also part of the same agreement because he trafficked her from Virk to Akhtar and arranged where and to whom she was to be delivered; he tried to organise a hotel room and attended at the park to join in but was too late because she had regained consciousness by then.”
The four men deny the charges and the trial continues.
----------------------------------------------------------------
CANTERBURY
A cabbie who stole from vulnerable and elderly passengers has been banned from driving taxis for ten years.
The rare restriction followed 45-year-old Lorraine Heusser admitting eight charges of pilfering from people in Whitstable – including a 91-year-old victim.
Now a judge, branding her “mean and despicable”, has slapped her with a court order preventing her from driving a cab until 2024.
She left Canterbury Crown Court shielding her face and then drove away wearing a Guy Fawkes-style mask.
But Heusser, of Cordingham Close, Seasalter, avoided an immediate jail sentence after pleading guilty to all the thefts.
Judge Adele Williams told her that if she had gone to trial and forced her victims, aged between 24 and 91 years old, to give evidence she would have been sent down immediately.
After initially denying the offences her lawyer asked for an indication from the judge for a likely sentence if she changed her pleas to guilty.
And after hearing she wouldn’t be jailed immediately, Heusser promptly admitted her guilt.
Instead she received a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years and was told she had to remain under partial house arrest for the next six months – unable to leave her home between 9pm and 6am.
She was also ordered to repay the £742 she took from her victims at £20 a week – after her lawyer Kerry Waite told the judge she was now on benefits.
The judge also heard Heusser was quizzed three times by police, but twice no action was taken, and even after she was eventually charged and bailed she carried on stealing.
Prosecutor James Ross revealed how Heusser – who worked for the Whitstable Taxi Company – deliberately targeted mainly the elderly or vulnerable.
“These offences, in my judgement, are mean and despicable. They are thefts from victims who were either elderly and or vulnerable” – Judge Adele Williams
On February 27, 2013, Heusser responded to a call to collect 83-year-old Violet Wood who wanted to go shopping in Tesco.
Mr Ross said: “Mrs Wood has mobility issues after recently recovering from a heart attack. She handed the taxi driver her bag as she got in. When she drove off Mrs Wood noticed her £20 purse was missing from her bag as was £55 in cash.”
Mrs Wood later alerted police who spoke to Heusser but no action was taken against her, the court heard.
In September 2013, Lacey Smith, a 24-year-old woman left her handbag in the porch at her parents’ address. At midnight, Heusser turned up to collect a friend of Ms Smith.
The prosecutor added: “She thought it strange that rather than sit in the taxi, Heusser stood in the porch. Ms Smith noticed later that her bag and purse and £250 had gone missing.
Again Heusser was quizzed by police but no action was taken, the court heard.
On October 22, the cabby struck again with a 66-year-old Tracy Edwards who wanted to go from Whitstable town centre to her home address – again a purse and £20 went missing.
Also in the summer of 2013, Heusser stole from 79-year-old Kathleen Beach, who had a hip replacement operation, and ordered a taxi from Tesco in Whitstable.
The driver told her to hand over her bag while she struggled to get inside the cab and when it was returned Heusser zipped it up.
Mr Ross said: “She was then seen to drive away with her fist clenched… and £190 was missing.”
The court also heard that during the summer, 83-year-old Mary Cook was targeted twice – first when £10 vanished, and £30 on a second occasion.
On March 4 this year Heusser stole from 91-year-old Enid Dale, who had booked a taxi from Whitstable to her home, and was told to hand over her bag as she got into the vehicle.
Mr Ross said: “Once seated inside the car, Heusser put the Ms Dale’s bag into the foot well and when it was handed back the victim noticed it was lighter. The purse, worth £10, and £132 in cash and bank cards had gone.”
Ms Dale called Whitstable Taxis and was told to alert the police and Heusser was bailed but on May 9 she struck again.
This time her victim was 90-year-old Doreen Parrot who was collected from Chestifield Medical Centre and driven to her home, where she found £20 was missing from her bag.
Mr Waitt, defending, said Heusser now wished to apologise to her victims and felt “great shame” about what she did.
Judge Williams told her: “These offences, in my judgement, are mean and despicable. They are thefts from victims who were either elderly and or vulnerable.”
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