Taxi Driver Online

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Taxi-rage-dri ... 5549730.jp

Taxi rage driver still on the road

Date: 13 August 2009

A taxi driver who ploughed his cab into a young couple in a row over a fare has been allowed to keep his licence – despite being convicted of assault.

Attiq Ur-Rahman, 33, mounted the pavement and pinned 19-year-olds Edward Holden and Rachel Botes to a barbed wire fence.

Hackney cab driver Ur-Rahman, of Nevett Street, Callon, denied assault but was found guilty at Preston Magistrates' Court and ordered to do 150 hours' unpaid work and pay £300 costs.

But it has emerged that Ur-Rahman will still be able to work Preston's streets until his fate is decided at a council meeting on September 10 –more than a month after he was convicted.

Today, Edward – who, like Rachel, suffered bruises to his legs in the cab rage incident – blasted the decision and said: "We can't believe it. He is driving the same cab he used as a weapon against us and is allowed to continue driving it. It is dangerous to the public."

Edward had hailed Ur-Rahman's taxi from outside Yates's at about 12.15am on New Year's Day. He was going back to his home in Woodlands Way in Barton, stopping to pick up Rachel who had been at a party with friends in Cottam.

Nightclub promoter Edward said: "I got in a taxi and agreed a set price of £25. We picked my girlfriend up and drove to Barton.

"When we got near Broughton traffic lights, the meter was on £26 and he started tapping on it and asking for more money. I said we had agreed a set price."

But Ur-Rahman stopped the cab on the corner of the A6 just after the sign for Barton.

Edward said: "We were in the middle of nowhere, it was dark and wet and my girlfriend had high heels on.

"He was asking me for more money. We were just dumped at the side of the road.

"Then he revved his engine, went up the kerb and ran into us, pinning us into the fence. He did it with such force the fence broke. My girlfriend was in hysterics. We were in shock. We had bruises all the way up our legs."

Four witnesses on the other side of the road saw what had happened and Edward got their names and phoned the police. He also made a mental note of the driver's number written inside the cab.

Edward added: "We always use black cabs thinking it's the safest thing to do but obviously, in this case, it was not.

"We never get black cabs now. My girlfriend never seems to want to go to town because of having to get a taxi."

Ur-Rahman was ordered to pay £100 compensation to both Edward and Rachel.

Rachel, a student at the University of Central Lancashire, said: "I'd always been told by my mum and dad: 'always get a black cab because it's the safest way to go home' but now there's not a chance. I would never get one on my own."

Today Ur-Rahman, a father of two, said he was planning to appeal.
He said: "I have been a taxi driver for three and a half years and I only do it so I can be home quickly because of my five-year-old son who is disabled... I don't like this job because you get a lot of abuse.

"The couple were shouting at me and I felt intimidated. This has just put me off driving, but I have to return to work because I need to earn a living for my family."

A Preston Council spokesman said Ur-Rahman would be able to continue driving until a review of his licence on September 10.

I wonder if he had actually paid the initial £25 or not?

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Grandad,

been there, done that

joe public can be so fckin clever (after a drinkypoo), and all it takes is one little thing and the red mist comes down...

all my jobs are preset, quoted and names/addresses are in the book


did the guy in question get a tip?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

If I give a fixed price, they pay it up front

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

He should of stuck to the fixed price not decide he wanted more later into the journey. Meter is the maximum fare to charge is it not,he was hoping to get extra after quoting. Greedy barsteward.

9 miles job, after midnight, new years eve... £25

meter hit £25 with a mile to go

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Am I missing something It appears that everybody is more concerned about the money in this matter and not the fact that the raving looney taxi driver still has his badge, ffs

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

So this mush who tried to squash his punters is allowed to keep his license, yet the chap who ran un-insured for the weekend is banned for a year.

Lions led/run/controlled by donkeys.

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IDFIMH

dont forget the uninsured guy wasnt CAUGHT driving without cover, the LO noticed it on his paperwork, hence we have to assume the guy put his hands up to it, he could have said he was on holiday in spain... i would have

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

As toots mentioned in the other thread, the guy who ran uninsured may have been working on a radio circuit, despite being a hackney driver, so his jobs would have been logged.

As for the maniac Preston driver in this thread...

"Today Ur-Rahman, a father of two, said he was planning to appeal.
He said: "I have been a taxi driver for three and a half years and I only do it so I can be home quickly because of my five-year-old son who is disabled..."

....With a temper like his, you have to wonder if that was from a previous road rage incident!

Christ.....knowing what the public are like....you have to take much of what they say as B.S., trying to justify their cause, but this does seem to be a "bang to rights" lunatic who shouldn't be on the road.

However....before we lynch him...a note of caution. In the story, the male victim states:

Edward said: "We were in the middle of nowhere, it was dark and wet and my girlfriend had high heels on."

But then it goes on to say:

"Four witnesses on the other side of the road saw what had happened and Edward got their names and phoned the police. He also made a mental note of the driver's number written inside the cab."

I'm not saying that things didn't pan out exactly as "Edward" states, but four witnesses happen to be in "the middle of nowhere". Hmmmm! When people seem to enhance their story, for theatrical effect, it can create doubts about the rest.

Also..."But Ur-Rahman stopped the cab on the corner of the A6 just after the sign for Barton"

He states he was going to Barton....and was dropped off on the boundary of it.....on the A6. Again...they may possibly have had up to a mile or so to walk (I'll assume wannabee's earlier mileage estimate to be correct), but it was hardly the "middle of nowhere"???? AND...the witnesses...and the victims all live "together" in a relatively small place called Barton?! (But don't know each other of course).

A final point (you'll be pleased to hear!):

Edward says..."the meter was on £26 and he started tapping on it and asking for more money. I said we had agreed a set price."

So, it does appear that the driver must have taken the original £25 (or at least part of it). As we know, if the job is within his L.A. he, as a hack driver, should still run his meter, so that would explain that, but was this a "fixed price", as Edward says, or an estimate/quote?

Either way, I struggle to understand why anyone who's already received £25 up front, of a £26-£30 total fare...at 12.15am on New Years day would get so irate as to do something this crazy over losing a couple of quid, when he should be getting back for the next job and learning from the experience so that his next quote is more accurate! He must be completely mental (in which case, remove his licence for good), or the "victims" are not being totally honest and there could well be more to come on this story.

My money, if I absolutely had to bet now, would be to back the courts verdict and say guilty, let's hang him...but as I don't have to...I think I'll wait to see if the driver has the balls to appeal and see what happens then, if he puts up a better defence than has been listed in the article. I've seen several magistrates court verdicts overturned (most of them rightly I might add! ), leading me to be rather cynical of them.

I wonder how long he had to wait whilst the girlfriend was picked up? I bet that wasn't in the price and I also bet it was longer than expected.

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Grandad,

i bet he stays in this new years eve...

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

It doesn't justify what he did. He should have stayed in control of his temper and the worse thing he should have done was evict them from his cab

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!