Taxi Driver Online

Unpaid work for taxi driver who 'dragged' police officer

A TAXI driver who dragged a police officer along the street when he pulled away from a rank has been sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid community work.

Pc Steve Hinks had tried to stop Fazlollah Khoshmanesh moving off but his hand got stuck in a door handle, forcing him to run alongside until he could free it.

Khoshmanesh, of Harding Way, Cambridge, was sentenced by city magistrates yesterday (Monday, 28 September) having been previously convicted of assaulting a constable in the execution of his duty.

He was also convicted of failing to stop when required by a constable, wilful obstruction of a highway and obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty. He denied all charges.

Yetunde Fatwehinmi, prosecuting, said Pc Hinks was on patrol on May 6 and 59-year-old Khoshmanesh's taxi was illegally parked near the rank in St Andrew's Street, Cambridge. The officer went to get his details.

Mrs Fatwehinmi said: "There was a brief conversation between the two. The driver reversed his vehicle as he did not want this conversation.

"The officer noticed the window was down and held on to the passenger's door to speak to the driver. But he drove ahead while his hand was still on the door."


She said Pc Hinks suffered a "quite painful" injury to his hand.

Khoshmanesh's Vauxhall Vectra was later stopped in Victoria Avenue

Naomi Parsons, mitigating, said Khoshmanesh's actions were at "the lowest end of criminality". She said Pc Hinks suffered pins and needles and had a red mark the size of a 5p piece on his hand.

She said: "That was the sum total of the injuries in this case. This was a momentary misjudgment by Mr Khoshmanesh and he finds himself in a deeply regrettable situation."

She said the city council's taxi licensing committee will meet on Monday to decide whether to renew Khoshmanesh's licence. She said he would be "doubly punished" if he lost his taxi licence in addition to the convictions.

For assaulting the officer, magistrates sentenced Khoshmanesh to 120 hours of unpaid work and handed down a 12-month community order. No further sentence was passed for the other offences and he was ordered to pay £300 costs.

If you have no respect for the law could it be thought that you are not a 'fit and proper' person to hold a taxi license

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

I bet he has a big badge.

CC

How can you hold onto the door handles on a vectra????? they have the ones where you put your fingers up and pull up to open

Could have been charged with careless driving.penalty hung

http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/385_00.html