Taxi Driver Online

If this guy had had cctv in his cab then this situation might not have arisen?
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DAILY MAIL (London)

April 25, 2007 Wednesday

TWO MONTHS FOR GIRL WHOSE RAPE LIE RUINED CABBIE'S LIFE

BY CHRIS BROOKE

A TEENAGE girl wrecked a taxi driver's life by crying rape at the end of a drunken night out and then being too embarrassed to withdraw the claim.

Married father-of-two Aftab Ahmed, 43, lost his house, livelihood and good name after a 16-year-old passenger accused him of attacking her. Yesterday the girl was sentenced to four months detention for perverting the course of justice but was told she would be released in two months.

Mr Ahmed said: 'Today is the worst day of my life, I can't imagine that the person who destroyed a whole family got only two months. She has destroyed my family life, my social life, and she has destroyed me economically.'

He said his family had been ostracised by the Muslim community. 'To be accused of rape is the most serious crime in my religion of Islam, it is seen as worse than murder, because we are told to honour women and that they are sacrosanct,' he said. Mr Ahmed has a degree in political science and was a police officer in Kashmir before he came to England to marry his wife Amber, 32, and they have twin 11-year-old daughters.

Bradford magistrates court heard that Mr Ahmed was parked in a taxi rank in Bradford city centre when he was asked to take the girl home by her elder sister. Prosecutor Duncan Wilcock said Mr Ahmed gave the sister his registration plate and contact number because they were both concerned at her state. The teenager was sick six times in his taxi and could not give him directions and Mr Ahmed went to great lengths to find the correct address.

When the girl got home she dialled 999, believing she had been sexually assaulted by the driver. Even before police arrived she realised Mr Ahmed had not touched her, but she was too scared to change her story. Once sober she continued the pretence and took police to a remote moorland spot where she claimed the rape took place.

Mr Ahmed was arrested and released on bail after spending 15 hours in police cells, but his taxi licence was revoked and he was shunned by members of the Muslim community in Bradford where he lived. It took six weeks and an investigation costing £6,000 before police were satisfied he was innocent.

Although the girl, now 17, was charged with perverting the course of justice, she did not admit her guilt until last month ñ 14 months after the original incident. In court the teenager apologised to Mr Ahmed and his family and the police.

District Judge David Thomas told the girl: 'What you did had disastrous consequences so far as Mr Ahmed was concerned. I accept fully that you have great remorse for what has happened. I don't want you or anyone else to have the impression that people can make these allegations and get away with it.' Outside court, Mr Ahmed said that on the night of the incident in January last year, the girl's friends and sister 'abandoned' her into his care and he had done his best to look after her.

He said: 'I had my taxi badge taken away, which meant I could not work. We fell into arrears with the mortgage and the house is now sold because we can't afford to live there any longer.

'Nobody wants to talk to me and I no longer have a social life. I don't know who believes me, but I am full of fear. It's very hard to move forward.' Mrs Ahmed added: 'Her claims have torn this family apart and a weaker marriage might have crumbled, but I believed my husband 100 per cent.'

Detective Constable Mark Wycherley, of West Yorkshire Police, said: 'If you wanted someone to take your daughter home, you would want Mr Ahmed to be that person.'
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Could he claim compensation from the court , and have his licence back??????

But it took 14 months for that remorse to surface.

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IDFIMH

I doubt that he can claim compensation from the court. It wasn't the courts fault. He could probably make a claim against the girl but she probably doesn't have the money to pay any compensation. I wish Mr Ahmed well and I hope that the local community will now rally round to help him and his family.

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Grandad,

good luck to him... at least the truth did come out,can you imagin it if the truth never came to light.

Its at times like this you realise how vulnerable you are to false allegations…some would say too vulnerable….

I expect every council in the country will now be making sure that every taxi/ph is fitted with CCTV.

I wonder if it’s more beneficial to put people at risk of a false allegation than to protect them.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

If the sister was so concerned then why didn't she go with the girl?

Probably more concerned with getting back to the pub, but what's new?

Of course, the moral of the tale is not to get into that position in the first place.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

If the sister was so concerned then why didn't she go with the girl?

Probably more concerned with getting back to the pub, but what's new?

Of course, the moral of the tale is not to get into that position in the first place.[/quote]

And just how are we supposed to avoid this? Maybe if we just sit on the rank and not take any fares we will be safe. Perhaps we could ask the punter if they are going to make accusations about us and then we can leave them there.

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Grandad,

Listened to this lad on the radio today, and this whole situation has ruined him.

Might lose his house through loss of work, and still gets iffy looks from his fellow cabbies.

Without doubt that girl is an out and out slag.

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IDFIMH

JD , it says at the bottom of your post that you copyright this post. Can you legally copyright someone else's work?

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Our safety is Paramount

The article said that both the driver and the girl's sister were concerned by her state, so clearly she was very young and very drunk.

I think that would set the alarm bells ringing with many a driver, don't you? I daresay many drivers simply wouldn't take her because she might puke up (as she did - six times), but I'm sure we've discussed this type of thing on here umpteen times before, and while it's easy to say with hindsight, it's surely a salutary tale for all of us?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Normally when I post these types of articles I make a point of unticking "attach signature". On this occasion I forgot to do that but I'm glad you pointed it out so I can rectify it.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Surely he should be able to claim compensation from the criminal injuries board as there was a conviction .Could he not claim on health grounds as he is clearly suffering.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U

On numerous occasions I have refused to take a females on their own who were obviously drunk. My reasoning being is that if I had to assist one from the vehicle at the other end, then this would mean coming into contact (touching). Now in the event of a malicious allegation, my DNA via clothes etc would put me in a very compromising position. No matter what your heart tells you, just dont go there.

As for anyone looking as if they might possibly puke, even if they have company - it is a big Nooooo.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

I think some of the newer drivers are a bit sympathetic to this kind of thing, but the more experienced ones get wise to it - I've been stuck with drunken females who won't even wake up, never mind tell me exactly where they're going. Luckily it's usually been a case of all's well that ends well, but in this case the driver's tale is an instructive one.

And why is it that people accompanying someone who's really drunk are always 100% drunk that they won't puke? That annoys me as much as the drunk per se.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk