Taxi driver was executed at close range in the back of his cab, court hears
Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 07:30
A taxi driver was forced to get into the back of his cab at gunpoint before being executed at close range, a court heard.
The prosecution claims that dad-of-three Stuart Ludlam was murdered by Colin Cheetham, who had a fascination for guns and taxis.
The 62-year-old denies murder but the court heard allegations that he had meticulously planned the motiveless and "cold-blooded killing".
He had taken photographs of four railway stations and their timetables to find the most secluded and quietest spot for the killing, a jury at Nottingham Crown Court was told yesterday.
They also heard he had used three mobiles to call three taxi firms – two of which were based in Derby – 14 days before the murder.
Prosecutor Peter Joyce said: "Was this a dry run, or dry runs? Did he get cold feet and are drivers at those firms just lucky to be alive? Was he testing the signals from the mast for each of his phones so he could carry out his plan at a later date?"
The court heard that Mr Ludlam, 43, of Darley Dale, was "lured" to his death by a phone call made to MJ's Taxis, where he had worked for 15 years.
Mr Joyce said Cheetham, of Waingroves Road, Ripley, had made the phone call with the intention of killing the "unlucky" driver who responded to the fare.
He said Mr Ludlam had two gunshot wounds to his head – but it was the second that had killed him – when he was found at Cromford railway station on September 17 last year.
He said it was believed the first bullet, which only penetrated Mr Ludlam's scalp, was fired through the rear windscreen as the taxi driver sat at the wheel of his cab.
Mr Joyce said that Mr Ludlam was then made to go round to the back of his Ford Focus estate.
He said: "He had been made, before the fatal shot, to kneel before he was executed at close range – forced into the boot at gunpoint, no doubt in terror for his life."
But Mr Joyce said they were still unable to find a motive for the killing, apart from Cheetham's fascination with taxis and guns.
He said: "He had a fascination with taxis and a fascination with guns and Mr Ludlam was just the unlucky man with whom his fascination ended."
Mr Joyce said the two men did not know each other and Mr Ludlam just happened to be the driver of a taxi called by Cheetham.
He said: "The purpose of that call cannot have been to hire a cab but could only have been to lure a complete stranger to a secluded location to be killed.
"Despite all the inquiries that have been made, there's no motive we can show other than a wish to kill someone – to kill anyone."
But Cheetham denies the murder. He claims a man called Geoff used his gun to kill Mr Ludlam.
Mr Joyce said that Cheetham made a statement in March this year saying that two men he had met in a pub had asked to borrow one of his guns to threaten a drug dealer.
Cheetham claims he was told the gun would not be fired and would just be used to teach the drug dealer, who was a taxi driver, a lesson.
In his defence statement, he said the man, Geoff, had claimed his sister, June, had moved to the Matlock area in 2005, and become addicted to drugs and he knew the person responsible.
Mr Cheetham claimed that he had eventually agreed and had met Geoff at Cromford station on September 17 and handed over the gun. But when he had attempted to leave, Geoff forced him to stay.
He said he was there when the first shot was fired but had then left, returning shortly afterwards to find Mr Ludlam's body in the boot of his car.
He said he had found both his gun and phone at the scene, which he disposed of because they implicated him.
But Mr Joyce said this was all lies and that Cheetham, who initially denied all knowledge of the killing, had changed his story to fit the evidence.
Cheetham told police, when first interviewed on September 27 last year, that he had no knowledge of the killing, apart from seeing it on the news.
He said he had taken the photographs of the stations because he was planning to create a calendar to send to friends and relatives for Christmas.
He claimed he had checked the train timetables at Cromford station so he could get photographs of the platform when it was quiet.
However, two days later, when interviewed again, he changed his story and said he thought he might have been the first person to see Mr Ludlam's body when he went to the station to take pictures.
He said he saw a car parked with its driver's door open and shouted to the driver to close it but when nobody did, he pushed the door shut himself and noticed the body.
He told police that he had not reported it because he had panicked.
He said: "I've never seen a body before and what I came across I thought to be a murder and I just, I didn't want to get involved."
Mr Joyce said Cheetham told police he could see a hole to the side of the man's head and having seen TV programmes, like CSI, assumed that the man had been shot. But Mr Joyce said when emergency services arrived, they could not see straight away where the bullet holes were.
He said: "The prosecution case is that Colin Cheetham was the man that shot him, that he planned it meticulously and spent much time looking and reconnoitring the location in which Mr Ludlam was killed to choose the best place and time to carry out the killing, giving him the best opportunity to avoid responsibility for shooting Stuart Ludlam."
Photographs that Cheetham had taken of Whatstandwell station, Ambergate station, Duffield station and Cromford station were shown to the jury. A photograph of an advertisement for MJ's Taxis at Cromford station was also included.
Mr Joyce said it was clear why the other stations had not been chosen for the murder. He said they were busy and that Cromford was the "most secluded station of all".
He said calls had been made from three phones belonging to Cheetham to taxi firms in the vicinity of Cromford station two weeks before the killing.
He added: "That's why Cromford was picked. That's why all the photographs were taken. That's why all the phone calls were made."
He said that the phone call "luring" Mr Ludlam to the station had been made two minutes after the 11.44am train to Derby had left. The next train was not due until 12.18pm and did not stop.
Mr Joyce said: "There was another non-stopping train at 12.43pm – so the station is likely to be virtually deserted between 11.44am and 1.17pm."
Mr Ludlam was found by Peter Noble, who was on holiday with his family in Derbyshire.
He called the emergency services.
He told them he had come across Mr Ludlam's car at 12.42pm and had seen the dead man's arm protruding from the smashed rear windscreen. The cab's engine was still running.
This was 56 minutes after Mr Ludlam had received a call from one of Cheetham's phones. Mr Joyce said the call had been diverted from the MJ's Taxi number.
Police discovered the phone used to call Mr Ludlam had been bought from Morrisons, in Derby, on August 13. An officer checked CCTV at the store and saw "a large man", which was Cheetham.
Police then spotted the same man drive off in the direction of the petrol station. The man paid for £20 of unleaded fuel and £5 top-up for his phone.
Mr Joyce said it was because of this policeman's care in checking the CCTV that Cheetham was identified.
He said the phone was paid for by cash but the top-up voucher had been bought using a card, which led to Cheetham.
The trial continues.
Source; http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/ ... ticle.html
AND
Taxi driver 'lured to remote railway station and shot dead'
2:26 AM on 16th June 2010
A taxi driver was lured to a deserted train station then killed in a meticulously planned execution by a man fascinated with guns, a court has heard.
Father-of-three Stuart Ludlam, 44, was found in the boot of his taxi at Cromford railway station, just south of Matlock in Derbyshire, on September 17 last year.
He had been made to kneel in the back of the boot and was shot in the head, Nottingham Crown Court heard today.
Colin Cheetham, 61, from Ripley, Derbyshire, is accused of killing the taxi driver. He denies murder.
Today prosecutor Peter Joyce QC said Cheetham appeared to have no motive other than the desire to kill somebody.
He said he had planned the killing ‘meticulously’, spending much time examining the location to choose the best time and place to carry out the killing.
The court heard holidaymaker Peter Noble dialled 999 after he found Mr Ludlam's body in the back of the car, which had its engine still running, at around 12.42pm that day.
A post mortem found the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, and the court heard there were two shots to the head.
Mr Joyce said Mr Ludlum, who worked for MJ's Taxis in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, received a call from a mobile phone at 11.46am that day.
He had been shot as soon as he arrived at Cromford station, the prosecutor said, adding that the victim and Cheetham did not know each other, but Mr Ludlam just happened to be the driver of the taxi.
He said the purpose of the call was not to hire a cab, but to lure a ‘complete stranger’ to a secluded location to be killed.
The court heard records showed the mobile phone used to call Mr Ludlam was bought from Morrison's supermarket in Derby.
Examination of CCTV showed Cheetham had bought the phone, Mr Joyce said.
Other mobile phones were also found when Cheetham's house was searched.
Officers also found a camera and photographs of various train stations - including Cromford, the court heard.
Cheetham was charged in September, but then in March produced a completely new statement, Mr Joyce said.
‘You will see how his story has changed,’ the prosecutor told the jury. ‘It was his gun, it had been modified to take a silencer. He was there at the killing, but it was not him.
‘He had provided the gun and he had provided a loaded gun for others who did the killing.’
The court heard Cheetham claimed he met a man, known only as Stan, in a pub who later introduced him to a man called Geoff. He did not give surnames for either.
The defendant said Geoff told him he wanted to use a gun to threaten a drug dealer he held responsible for the addiction of his sister June, who had moved to the area to go to college.
The court heard Cheetham claimed Geoff wanted to use the gun to intimidate the dealer into handing over his ‘stash’ of £1,000 of drugs.
Cheetham claimed to have originally declined, then later agreed to help by lending the men his gun on the understanding it would not be used.
Mr Joyce said Cheetham claimed: ‘They (Stan and Geoff) thought Cromford station between trains was an ideal location.’
Cheetham said on September 17, Geoff demanded to use his phone to call the taxi company.
He said when the taxi driver arrived Geoff produced the gun and said: ‘I want your stash’, then it was Geoff who had shot him.
But Mr Joyce told the court police checked all records for the sister Cheetham claimed Geoff was defending, including medical records for drug addicts and people who had moved to the area.
The court also heard no record could be found of ‘Stan’ and ‘Geoff’ or the cars Cheetham said they drove.
He said: ‘It was his gun, he had planned it, it was his phone.
‘He had no knowledge of Mr Ludlam but he had a fascination with taxis and a fascination with guns and Mr Ludlam was just the unlucky man with whom this fascination ended.’
Cheetham denies murder at Nottingham Crown Court. The case was adjourned for the night.
Source; dailymail.co.uk
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