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Taxi driver was transporting drugs and criminal cash near Carlisle
https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/2616 ... -carlisle/
A TAXI driver has been stripped of his licence to work after police in north Cumbria found him transporting drugs and criminal cash.
Yousaf Hossain, 44, had collected his illegal cargo after driving to Glasgow and could clearly see that the bag he was asked to deliver contained a “large amount of cash.”
Police also discovered in the boot of his vehicle a kilo of cannabis. He admitted possessing the class B drug with intent to supply and possessing criminal cash, the £9,600 in cash.
At Carlisle Crown Court, a prosecuting barrister described how police stopped the defendant’s taxi as he was driving on the southbound side of the M6 near the city.
The drugs and cash were quickly found.
In court, defence barrister Abigail Holmes said that the Glasgow trip was initially booked in what appeared to be a legitimate journey.
Hossain admitted the offence on the basis that he acted as a courier only. He had no further involvement in the drug supply operation.
Recorder Philip Grundy said defendants who were guilty of such offences had to understand the “pernicious” impact of the drugs trade; the way in which it fuels crime and “destroys lives.”
“That includes cannabis,” said the judge, who said he accepted that Hossain, of Barwell Drive, Nottingham, acted as a courier and did not participate in the trade in a deeper way.
The Recorder said the defendant must have been alive to the contents of the bags he transported and that was the extent of his criminality.
Recorder Grundy noted that the local authority where Hossain lives had withdrawn his taxi licence, a decision he commended.
To his credit, the defendant had found new work as a site manager, earning £950 a month, supplemented by Universal Credit.
“You know how close you came to losing your accommodation if you were deprived of your liberty,” said Recorder Grundy.
He imposed a one-year community order, which includes 10 rehabilitation activity days and 100 hours of unpaid work.