Taxi passenger death – driver denies charges
A WORCESTER taxi driver drove away from the scene of an accident which caused the death of one of his passengers because he thought the two men were “runners”, a court was told.
Mirza Baig was taking Simon Ordidge and his friend, Jonathan Tracey, to Mr Ordidge’s home in St Moritz Close, Northwick, Worcester, following a night out on June 9 last year, when Mr Ordidge climbed out of the window of the moving taxi.
As previously reported in your Worcester News, dad-of-two Mr Ordidge suffered a fractured skull, and died at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry two days later, aged 32.
Mr Ordidge had said he wanted to get out of the taxi, which was travelling at 15-25mph, along Northwick Road, after Baig said he was taking the two men to Worcester police station because of a dispute over spilt beer.
Baig, 42, of Arrowsmith Avenue, St John’s, Worcester, denies failing to stop at the scene and failing to report an accident to police.
He told police he had not seen Mr Ordidge climb from the taxi or realise the seriousness of the incident but admitted he saw him lying in the middle of the road.
Mark Johnson, prosecuting at Worcester Magistrates Court, said the case against Baig came down to his duty as a taxi driver.
“At the point at which he is told by Mr Tracey that Mr Ordidge has jumped from the taxi, as an operator of a public service vehicle, he has at the very least a duty to check Mr Ordidge is all right,” he said.
“The defendant admits he saw Mr Ordidge lying in the middle of the road.
“He thought they were just messing about and running away without paying and he feared what they would do to him.”
In interview, Baig said: “I was just scared that if I stopped there he would attack me or they would damage my car.
“When I saw the article in the newspaper about a taxi on Northwick Road I got very worried because there was nothing in my mind that something like this could happen.
“Had I seen myself that the person was injured I would have called the police but I thought they were runners.”
Faseeh Ur Rahman, Baig’s cousin, told police he received a call from him at midnight on the night in question.
“I have had a fare in the past jump out of the window to avoid paying, this kind of thing is common so I told him to leave it,” he said.
“From that conversation I was not aware of anyone being injured.
“I was told it was drunk people messing about.”
The trial was adjourned until Monday, March 7
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/local/
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