Taxi Driver Online

Nottingham Evening Post

March 14, 2007 Wednesday

Police on the tail of the thugs who prey on cabbies.

Taxi drivers are being tailed and quizzed by police after a spate of robberies and assaults on cabbies. Crime Correspondent GUY WOODFORD spent a night shift with two officers involved in Operation Encounter.

The private hire car passes by in Mansfield Road, Nottingham, and the police car containing PCs Mike Marshall and Dan Maddick starts to move off.

"It's heading north out of the city. There looks to be young people in the back. It fits the profile of the attacks," says PC Marshall.

The private hire driver turns into Hucknall Road and heads towards Bulwell, closely followed by the patrol car.

Within ten minutes it has reached Crabtree Farm Estate and two men and a woman in their late teens to early 20s get out.

Spying the police car pulling up behind, their faces become as animated as their language.

"He ripped us off, officers," says one of the two young men pointing at their driver. "Arrest him."

PC Marshall ignores them and gets on with the serious business of gathering intelligence from the driver - who is a firm supporter of Operation Encounter.

"One of my friends, who is a private hire driver, got robbed at knifepoint of cash and his mobile by three or four men he picked up in the Lace Market in August last year," he says. "The police haven't been able to catch them.

"Attacks are widespread on drivers. Every driver has a tale to tell."

The 42-year-old, a driver for Fon-a-Car, in Lower Parliament Street in the city centre, added: "I am pleasantly surprised that the police are following drivers. I hope they continue doing so for a long time."

It is not long before PC Marshall and PC Maddick are following another private hire driver out of the city centre.

Bulwell is again the destination. A young couple emerge from the rear seats and disappear inside a house.

The 42-year-old Central Cars driver is a strong advocate of introducing CCTV cameras in all city taxis and private hire cars.

"It would stop a lot of trouble," he said.

"A CCTV pilot started recently in Sheffield. I've got contacts there and I've been told that attacks on drivers have fallen dramatically.

"They've got cameras in taxis in Mansfield but there are a lot more drivers in Nottingham. Things are getting worse. I know many drivers who won't work after 9pm because they fear being robbed or stabbed."

Pointing at the headrest on his driving seat, he adds: "I usually have a safety shield there to stop customers grabbing me around my neck. It broke but as soon as it is fixed it will be back on."

Earlier in the evening Woriya Ali, 30, a driver for DG Cars in Sherwood, described a harrowing incident last month.

He said: "I picked up a man in St Ann's two weeks ago. He told me to go to a pub in Radford.

"When we got there he met another man who got in and then I was told to drive to an address in Porchester.

"When we got there the two men got out and spoke to another man. I saw money and a package exchanged. It looked like a drug deal.

"The two men got back inside the car and told me to head for the city centre. We were driving down Woodborough Road and one of them challenged the fare which was around £13 at that stage. I told them that if they didn't pay I would drive them to the nearest police station.

''One of them then reached over and pulled the handbrake up. I was travelling around 40mph and the car started spinning around into the oncoming traffic lane. If another vehicle had been there someone could have died.

"As soon as my car came to a stop the two men opened the door and ran off. I didn't go after them. They could have been armed.

"Now there are streets in Nottingham I won't pick up from at night, but I cannot afford to stop working."

As PC Marshall speaks to another driver, PC Maddick reflects on the night to date.

"I think Operation Encounter has been good for building the drivers' confidence in us.

"It will be interesting to see when the overtime funding runs out whether what we are doing will become part of regular day-to-day policing."

Between August 1 and December 31, 2006, there were 26 robberies of city taxi drivers, both hackney cabs and private hire. There were a further three in the first six weeks of this year.

The most disturbing case concerned Frank James, 49, of Sutton-in-Ashfield. Mr James, a driver for Arnold-based 200 Cars, was stabbed after being confronted by two men in Morrell Bank, Top Valley, on October 7.

John Mwangi, 21, of Gainsford Crescent, Bestwood, has pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon and will be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday.

The attack led to Detective Chief Inspector Tony Heydon being assigned to look at ways of preventing further robberies - leading to the creation of Operation Encounter. Since its launch on February 15, police have been out on 17 nights - mainly on Thursdays to Saturdays - speaking to drivers.

Officers in marked police cars have been following cabbies travelling out of the city centre between 10pm and 4am, mostly but not exclusively on roads heading to the north of the city. Encouragingly, there have been no further robberies or assaults on drivers.

DCI Heydon said: "The tactics we are using are not rocket science, but it has been extremely effective.

"Having marked police cars following taxi and private hire drivers is an extremely effective robbery deterrent.

"On one occasion last month, officers were talking to a driver when an appeal came over his radio that a colleague had two male customers who had just run off without paying. The officers were nearby and managed to drive to the scene and catch the fare dodgers.

"At the same time as we are speaking to drivers, we are talking to cab firms and the city council about getting cars fitted with CCTV."

Alan Given, chief executive of the Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership, which is funding the police officer overtime for Operation Encounter, said: "Taxi drivers provide an essential service in the city and must be protected. For a small amount of money, we are seeing a big return."

The operation goes on until at least the end of this month when it will be reviewed to see whether it becomes part of long-term city policing.
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