Taxi Driver Online

A friend of mine that I have known for many years, and often had disagreements with regarding the way the taxi trade should be, is being charged with manslaughter next week, he is just a Taxi Driver who drives on days for somebody else, he knows that this is being placed on here, it is a warning of how things can go horribly wrong

Mike and his wife went out for a drink on a Saterday night six months ago, they had a pleasant evening and enjoyed themselves, and when it was time for them to go they walked out side and into a taxi, the driver knew him and his wife, on the way home they decided to stop at a chippy, it was not a problem with the driver, after all mike is one of us, so they go in to the chippy and wait to be served laughing and joking with each other and the staff, now this is where it turns into a nightmare

Into the shop walks a young man of about 30 years of age 6 ft 2 big lad and had been drinking heavily, he walks across and comes up behind mick and his wife who are at that time being served, he then starts to bully them into buying him a meal, now mick is not a little bloke himself 5 ft 10.. 54 Years of age, but is and has never been a person to get into a fight, so he tells the counter staff to give the man a couple of sausages , but that was not enough for this man, he starts to abuse them telling them he wants more . and when they refuse he starts throwing punches at them both,

Well a good night out has now turned very nasty, he has a man taking pot shots at his wife and himself, and remember he is not a fighter, so what does he do . he throws his arms around the man and get's him in a headlock type of hold( I think) and Pulls him away from his wife, across the shop floor, and outside , he then either tripped him or they fail on to the floor,

now remember while all this is going on there is a Taxi out side and the driver in the cab is watching what is happening, he sees Mick fighting with this big man. and calls a( yellow one..... driver needs assistance) he get out of his cab and between the two of them tried to keep the man restrained on the floor, the man is facing down, as more cabs arrive it ends up with three drivers restraining the man, and Mick is back up with his wife, the police have been called, and all anybody is doing is holding him waiting for the police...

The man is still struggling when the first police officer arrives she tells them to let him up and they explain that he is violent so she changes her mind he's struggling all the time and more police officers arrive and change places with the drivers, they handcuff him and try to make him rise, suddenly they stop place him back on the ground, something is obviously wrong, and a ambulances is called and he is taken away, he is dead before it reaches the hospital, Mike and his wife are arrested and taken to two different police stations they are held for 24 hours and released on bail, for six months they have been returning to the police and have been rebailed each time, the end result is that his wife has not been charged but he has with manslaughter.

Start to finish the whole thing lasted no more than seven minutes, this hanging over him is taking its toll, all the drivers and owners are supporting him and so are many people from the private hire trade, now he has to face the ordeal of the trial when that takes place in the future, the man died of asphyxiation, the fact he died is very very sad,

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

I believe that if your mate is innocent, and I've no reason to doubt what you say, then a court of law with 12 good folks will see that he comes out of the court an innocent and free man.

That said, the next 12/18/24 months is going to be a night-mare for him, his family, and his mates.

_________________
IDFIMH

I feel for him, but as much as the laws an ass in this country, surely, but surely the lad has used no more force than was neccessary to defend him and his wife, I would suggest he had no intent to injure the asshole who attacked him, mearly defended himself. I suspect the jury, if it's not dropped before that, will see the same.

Good luck to him, I'd put money on him being proved innocent.

It's the old sloping shoulders from the CPS again, 'we did our bit, don't blame us'

I feel for him, but as much as the laws an ass in this country, surely, but surely the lad has used no more force than was neccessary to defend him and his wife, I would suggest he had no intent to injure the asshole who attacked him, mearly defended himself. I suspect the jury, if it's not dropped before that, will see the same.

Good luck to him, I'd put money on him being proved innocent.

It's the old sloping shoulders from the CPS again, 'we did our bit, don't blame us'

Furthermore, as he's not trained in restraint measures like the Police are, he done the best he could, as I would suggest he was in fear of being badly injured by this drunk, violent, large powerful male.

Hopefully the Chippie has CCTV that can confirm your mates story and prove that what he says is true. Are there any other Camera's nearby that the Police haven't got to? Was he drinking in a Pub etc? Do they have CCTV? If so is the Bar Tender Equally to blame for serving alcohol to someone who is obviously under the influence?

He's in for a rocky ride but it's good to know that he has mates he can trust and believe in him. He'll need them unfortunately; whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Can he still work; or has his Licence been suspended pending the outcome? I bet his wife is in a right state. Did the Taxi have CCTV?

From an outsiders point of view - if the guy was breathing etc when the cabbies were restraining him and then was kinda dead once the Police took over the restraint shouldn't the Police Complaints Authority be looking into this, or are they going to pull the normal card that they can't investigate until the end of the Criminal Proceedings when their investigation is grounds for an appeal?

I wish you mate the best of luck and send a hug to his wife.

Is this the one that was in the news in Bootle?

I suppose it might be presumptious for anyone to comment on the unknown facts but I'm sure those who are aware of the facts or think they they are aware of the facts will no doubt realise that a man has lost his life. The circumstances of the death will no doubt come out in court, presuming it gets that far? Until it does, the majority of us will probably remain in the dark.

Regards

JD

_________________
Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

There must have been a point where he stopped struggling…prior to the police officers changing places with the drivers….

I know their intent was not to kill him but if more force was used than was necessary then they could be in deep sh**….

A big lad like that takes a bit of choking unless you know what you are doing - he would be struggling for his life remember.... There's a big difference between holding someone down and cutting off his air supply....

I hope the your mate and his wife don't have a problem with this terrible situation but I think someone has gone to far....

_________________
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Yes

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

He was not choked nor was his air supply restricted.

He was still struggling when the police arrived

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

So the police killed him? lol

Regards

JD

_________________
Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

I have not said that, nor implied it. I know he died of asphyxiation, But what caused it I do not know as yet, the only people that do are the police and untill he has disclosure he will not know. what I do know is that he could never knowingly harm anyone.

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

JD the man involved was a taxi-driver, the men that helped him on the night were Taxi drivers', 45 Taxi drivers' and private hire drivers have been murdered over the last 10 Years, every night Taxi drivers' take their lives in their hands when they go out to work, if an incident happens and they retaliate they are often held to blame, if they take someone to a police station they can be charged with abduction, in this case the man is charged with manslaughter, you might find it funny but I don't.LOL

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

I don't find the death of any individual funny, my "lol" was aimed at the thought that the police may have caused his death? If the police got there when the man was alive and well then he probably would have stayed alive and well. However if the police got there when the man was dying then there isn't an awful lot they could have done under the circumstances?

Your reference to the fact that he was alive when the police got there is meaningless. Perhaps it mightl come out in court that the man was dying when the police got there? There is slight difference in your reasoning and my own. Having said that I know nothing about the incident but it would appear that the man was dying when the police got there regardless whether or not he was breeathing.

So your assumption that because the man was still breathing when the police got there, exonerate those that caused his death, is perhaps a little fanciful and deserves more than a lol for the poker face you wore when you wrote it?

Regards

JD

_________________
Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.