Taxi Driver Online

I never stated you were a racist but if the cap fits and all that......
as for reporting you to the police why on earth would i want to do that.........we could just go up saughton park and sort it out like men lol
now for the main point of all this chat Mr Thomson if you really had paid attention or even attended the court you would be aware that manslaughter was an option in this case but not accepted and murder was the verdict and the jury took 1 hour and 10 mins to come up with a UNANIMOUS decision, thats 15 people that sat for 3 weeks and listened to all of the evidence and found Nolan guilty in 70 minutes thats 4200 seconds, not very long

"Ah now we see your true "COLOURS"

I take your point, but you've failed to explore any of mine. I asked a number of questions, and you've not attempted to view them, as far as I can see, with an open mind. You won't even look into the possibility, that had this been a reversal of roles the outcome could have been very different.

I honestly can't believe that Nekoo or Nolan intended to commit murder.

As for the manslaughter verdict, you are right. I didn't know it was on the table, and I can't remember it ever being mentioned in the press reports. And I am absolutely amazed the jury plumped for the murder charge under the circumstances.

You obviously believe, to all intents and purposes, that Nekoo was completely blameless and played little part in this tragedy.

Do you believe that Nekoo was responsible in any way for his actions in all of this?

Oh and Goalie, I should point out the reason I am so cynical about our legal system is that I’ve seen how it works. And trust me, a unanimous decision doesn’t mean anything when you’ve witnessed what goes on in these courts.

Ah I think I see where you are coming from Colin. When Mr. Nekoo was arguing with Nolan in the garage and deciding to follow him to the park, he was really thinking about his family, especially his 10-year-old son and not simply wanting to beat the sh*te out of someone.

It was only going to be a little "chit chat", isn’t that right Colin.

Nekoo was really in the wrong place at the wrong time with a psychopathic killer, who was plotting and scheming how to murder him. That’s why he was found 21 meters from his car, he was taking some exercise, trying to prepare himself for their lengthy “discussion.” Nekoo was obviously completely blameless in all of this.

It makes you wonder where it all went wrong…eh Colin.

The truth is Colin that Mr. Nekoo was such a nice guy. He was prepared to risk it all in a dimly lit park in the hope of doing Steven Nolan serious bodily harm, and both were as bad as each other.

So spare me all the bullshit sentimentality, I know what really happened.

Murder my ar*e.

I'm only going to answer your final point here Skull if you know what happened then why were you not in court, surely Nolan could have been doing with all the help he could muster in court!!!!!!!

Nice upstanding, hard working family man, with wife, and a child. Pillar of the community. And an ethnic minority Iranian.

Male, with girlfriend, a cabby and white Scottish.

Now, all through the case I just couldn't get a handle on something. But I'm prepared to bet that there was a degree of race card evident here.

I've had the race card played against me. I called the cops immediately. When they arrived they were very tentative. Their whole approach was to massage the problem away. Which they managed to do.

Thing is, whether white, black, yellow or pink, we in our modern society are all fully versed in racial equality. Not in other inequalities of course, but certainly racial equality. The Jury wouldn't necessarily know what or how they were doing it, but I would vouch that the portrayal of the victim as the paragon of virtue that he was, was well influenced by his ethnic minority status.

Yet this was no even tempered individual. He was sufficiently charged to follow another into the unknown. And an unknown which could be expected to manifest itself violently. And it did, of course.

So, how does this paragon of virtue suddenly get to be Mr Angry and his personna revert back to being the "good" guy in court?

So Goalie, was this explored?

Evidence was led that Nolan had previous for ill feeling, yet none was led to set Mr Angry's demeanour in context? It doesn't wash with me.

Nekoo's conduct has been air-brushed out of the process. There has to be a reason. And I suspect it could be precisely because of his ethnic minority status.

Our society has gone more than full circle. From being discriminated against, our ethnic minorities now appear to have an invisible upper hand as government and legal systems bend over backwards to be seen to be fair to them. But it seems they've pushed the boundary to where they now have an invisible advantage, where they are given the benefit of the doubt. And that's not fair.

Two men went to the park with malice in their mind. Nekoo was 21 yards from his vehicle, he was obviously agressing. There is no evidence that contact was made by the front of the taxi with Nekoo, that the taxi was deliberately driven at him with intent to cause injury.

It doesn't get any more difficult than that. had I been on the Jury then the verdict would not have been unanimous.

I just hope that justice is served through the appeal.

Sentence reduce to manslaughter, credit for time served and Nolan released.

That's how I see it.

BTW I abhor all forms of racism, however overt and insidious they are. I've pulled my own family and friends up for espousing manifestly racist points. And we should all abhor racism. So this is not an attempt to incite others to be racist. Be warned you would be rightly severely dealt with by the authorities.

This is merely to try to explain how what happened in court could.

I know Findlaw was his QC. But I'm mystified at the quality of the defence here. I wonder whether it would have been wiser to put Nolan in the witness box. After all, he is the only one who explain what happened.

BTW 2 Manslaughter wasn't really on the table. The prosecution were arguing for murder. The defence was arguing for an acquittal, which we all really know was never going to happen. Unless that acquittal can be gained through the appeal, and I would bow to Findlay if he can achieve it, then he should have advised for the manslaughter option.

Perhaps the Judge has some discretion at sentencing, though I doubt she would exercise it here given the above, we'll just have to wait and see.

_________________
Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

But there was evidence that Nolan accelerated at point of contact and evidence it was driven over the victim more than once. Just because there is no damage at the front of the vehicle doesn't mean it was accidental. Evidence points to me that Nolan sped towards the victim and unfortunately Mr Neekl slipped or perhaps tried to jump/dive out the way as the taxi came to him

Forensic pathologist Dr Clare Bryce said the injuries suffered by Mr Aryaei Nekoo were "consistent with a vehicle running over a body".

Questioned by defence QC Donald Findlay, Dr Bryce agreed there was no injury that made her say, without a doubt, that Mr Aryaei Nekoo had been struck by a motor vehicle.

The court was also told there were no tyre marks on the body.

"That would leave, to some extent, unanswered the question of how he came to be on the ground," said Mr Findlay.

"It leaves options such as: he slipped and fell under a car. That would be explained by the injuries?"

Dr Bryce told him: "That is possible."

The trial has heard that he was still alive, but died at the scene. He was lying on grass about 22 metres from his Vauxhall Zafira private hire car. The driver’s door was open and the engine was running.

Jack McBirnie, 54, a collision investigator with Lothian and Borders Police until he retired last month, said he found tyre marks near the body and the Zafira.

The marks indicated “a vehicle under hard acceleration with the wheels spinning”, said Mr McBirnie.

He added: “The vehicle was being driven vigorously.”


There was no evidence of braking and it had been one continuous manoeuvre. The body lay over one of the tracks, but it might have been moved while attempts had been made to save him. There was no break in the track and no tyre marks on the body.

“It is likely the body had gone under the vehicle between the wheels...(the driver) would certainly feel the bump,” said Mr McBirnie.

The defence counsel, Donald Findlay, QC, said there was evidence that Nolan and Mr Aryaei Nekoo had an argument at a petrol station, and then both appeared to have headed for the park “to pursue the discussion.” Mr Aryaei Nekoo left his car and it was known that he ended up on the ground and the taxi had gone over him.

“There is a gap, and you have no way of knowing what happened during that gap,” Mr Findlay suggested to the witness.

“That’s right,” said Mr McBirnie.

Mr Findlay added: “He is on the ground for the taxi to go over him, but how he comes to be on the ground, you can provide no evidence.”

“No,” agreed Mr McBirnie.

Colin, I never expected you to answer any of my points as it is blatantly obvious that in your eyes, Mr. Nekoo did no wrong whatsoever. In fact, the man was without a shadow of a doubt a paragon of virtue.

Perhaps you could explain your connections with both Nekoo and Nolan?

I'm mystified, given the altercation between the two, and Nekoo willingly following Nolan and who also had to have malice in mind, that Nekoo's character wasn't questioned.

I can only assume Findlay didn't go there because he didn't see any need to. It would seem he was quite clear that the prosecution's case wasn't sufficient to warrant a murder conviction. I wonder whether he was shocked that such a verdict was delivered. And this may well feature in the appeal, perhaps based on the Judge's summing up for example.

It takes two to tango. There has to be a reason why the two adversaries were placed in different ends of the character spectrum.

And there has to be a flaw in that process.

_________________
Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

From earlier in the tread

"Minicab driver was 'raging' after fellow driver 'tried to steal his fare'


A minicab driver later found dying in a park was "raging" because he thought someone had tried to steal his fare, a murder trial has heard.

Another private hire driver, David Revels, 44, told the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday about his fall-out with a man he said was Ebrahim Aryaei Nekoo.

Cabbie Stephen Nolan, 48, Edinburgh, denies murdering Mr Aryaei Nekoo by running him over in the city's Saughton Park on March 12 last year.

Mr Revels, who has been driving for hire for some 15 years, was called by Nolan's legal team as a defence witness. He described how he and another private hire car were accidentally dispatched to pick up the same early morning fare some time during the autumn of 2010.

The other car got there first so Mr Revels let the driver have the job. That was what the "etiquette" recognised by drivers demanded, he said, and he thought all was well.

He told how, some time later, he was parked outside a take-away in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, when a passing driver braked "very suddenly".

Mr Revels continued: "He stopped his car and came storming over to mine."

He said the other man was Mr Aryaei Nekoo and he was very angry and quite threatening.

He said: "He was goading me out of he car to fight him, to punch him. He was raging. He was trying to get me to punch him."

Mr Revels told the trial he had been called as a witness after speaking to a friend about the Saughton Park incident and his own experience.

Questioned by advocate depute Douglas Fairley QC, prosecuting, Mr Revels agreed the name of Ebrahim Aryaei Nekoo did not appear anywhere in a statement he had given to police two months ago, just a description of the man he had argued with.

Mr Revels insisted it was Mr Aryaei Nekoo because he had recognised his photo in newspaper reports of his death.

The jury is expected to hear closing speeches when the trial continues on Monday.

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/218651-edin ... -his-fare/"

Tells me that Mr Neeko did have a bit of a temper, judging by the witness statements. Especially the part about goading

What, you mean Nekoo wasn't the paragon of virtue the jury thought he was?

Yes Skull. You should be reported to the authorities for your comments. And so should I. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to do it.

When it comes to race we're all tip toeing around the issue. The public at large refrain from talking about it, because they know how legally vulnerable it would render them. The only political party making any sort of race debate happen, is UKIP. And I loathe and abhor them.

But, I'd love to take on the legal and administrative system in a debate about how it conducts itself. And, yes, I'd be happy to cite Nolan's trial as an example. And a few others I can think of. it would become an Internet cause celebre which could effect real change.

I loathe all discrimination, any aspect of it in our society. I see the person not the race. Same with religion. Same even with Hearts supporters. And yes, the same with licensing. Because the inequality of licensing policy is no less odious than the inequality of racism.

Let's wait and hope, eh?

Problem is, we wouldn't have the largesse of Central's shareholders to reward us. We'd have to await the publication of the book.

_________________
Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

Well, it looks like the Goalie has run away. He came onto this forum to set us all straight and ended up raising more questions about Mr. Nekoo than he cared to answer?

Yes, Steven Nolan was found guilty according to the law but was it for murder or being caucasian Scottish?

I'm far from convinced that had their roles been reversed. Mr. Nekoo would have been found guilty of murder.

And one things for sure, I don't think anyone could claim that Mr. Nekoo was an innocent party.

Mr Revels, who has been driving for hire for some 15 years, was called by Nolan's legal team as a defence witness. He described how he and another private hire car were accidentally dispatched to pick up the same early morning fare some time during the autumn of 2010.

The same Mr Revels that didnt make a statement until January of this year!!!!!
The same Mr Revels that plays 5 a side football with Nolan!!!!!!
The same Mr revels that said he recognised Mr Nekoo from his pictures in the papers, well correct me if im wrong here but after the incident back in march 2012 and then again when it reached court in 2013 that was the only time Mr Nekoos picture was in the papers, so either it took a long time for it to sink in with Mr Revels that long in fact that it took him 9 months to make a statement relating to an incident that allegedly took place a very long time before then!!!!!!


Well, it looks like the Goalie has run away. He came onto this forum to set us all straight and ended up raising more questions about Mr. Nekoo than he cared to answer?

I dont do walking away Gary but I am a very busy man and i dont spend a lot of it at a keyboard but i will answer anything you care to ask me (if I can) but do me a favour ask the questions on at a time.



One question that seems to be raised quite a lot is the "22 metres from his taxi", well after speaking to an aquaintance who was at the trial here is there explanation (although they drew me a diagram to explain it to me) I will try my best......... mr nekoos taxi was parked at the back of mr Nolans, mr nekoo got out his cab to speak/fight with mr nolan but mr nolan never got out his cab but drove of turned his cab and drove at mr nekoo who because he was out of his cab moved back towards his own cab mr nolan having not made any connection with anybody or anything at this time then performed another turn and drove back at mr nekoo and his taxi and at this point he clipped the door of mr nekoos taxi, mr nekoo then must have realised what mr nolans intention was by now and must have decided to run and mr nolan then pursued him and at this point there was an impact and then mr nolan drove out of the park leaving mr nekoo to die a painful death, all in all this took 12 seconds, enough time to rob two familys of there loved ones.