Cabbies stage protest outside police station after taxi driver arrested
Taxi drivers gather outside Hanley's police station to protest after cabbie Nirpal Singh was arrested on suspicion of assault.
ALMOST 30 cabbies protested outside a police station after a fellow taxi driver was arrested on suspicion of assaulting another driver who allegedly tried to poach his customers.
The group gathered outside the Hanley station to show their support for 50-year-old Nirpal Singh, who was being held at the northern area custody facility in Etruria.
Mr Singh was released from the cells after 9pm on Saturday – more than eight hours after his arrest – and was given an £80 fixed penalty notice.
Police yesterday confirmed they are taking no further action against him.
The veteran taxi driver, who lives in Longton, told The Sentinel: "They shouldn't have arrested me in the first place.
"I've never been involved in anything like this in my life. I've been a taxi driver since I was 17."
The incident that sparked the protest took place at the taxi rank by Stoke railway station just before 12.30pm on Saturday.
Mr Singh, a self-employed cabbie, had been approached by six people who had just got off a train and wanted to be taken to Alton Towers.
He said: "My black cab was at the front of the queue at the rank and I told them the fare on the meter would cost them £35.
"The customers starting getting into the cab."
But Mr Singh alleged another cabbie, then drove in front of his taxi, blocking him in, and offered to take the passengers for £20.
He added: "They got in his car. I stood in front of his taxi and said he was not taking these customers anywhere because it was my turn.
"Then I went round to his cab, opened the door, and pulled his key out of the ignition."
An off-duty officer from London's Metropolitan Police had been at the train station when he saw the altercation.
He restrained Mr Singh while officers were called to the scene.
Mr Singh was arrested on suspicion of common assault and theft of the car key.
Imran Jamil-Ahmed, vice-chairman of Stoke-on-Trent Hackney Carriage Association, saw the events unfolding and went to Mr Singh's defence.
The 34-year-old, from Shelton, said: "We drove to Hanley police station to ask the police why they had arrested him.
"We were trying to explain that it was not as big a problem as they were making out."
Police said the delay in questioning Mr Singh was down to having to gather CCTV evidence and interviewing other witnesses.
Inspector Derek Reeves, based at Hanley's incident management unit, added: "We acted appropriately and proportionately.
"The off-duty police officer felt that he had to intervene before the incident escalated."
Inspector Reeves said the allegation of another taxi driver poaching Mr Singh's customers was a licensing matter, not a criminal offence.
Details are being passed on to Stoke-on-Trent City Council's licensing department.
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