Taxi Driver Online

Taxi boss demands apology


THE owner of Glasgow's largest private taxi firm has demanded an apology from Strathclyde Police in the row over a £2million health board contract.

John Cassidy of Network Private Hire claims his company has been "victimised" by Chief Constable Steve House after his force wrote to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde urging it not to award the firm a patient transport contract.

Network's former offices in Springburn were raided as part of a money-laundering investigation in 2004 - the year before Mr Cassidy bought the firm.

Senior officers said last month that the police had sent the formal memo to the board to express their concerns about the firm.

Mr Cassidy said: "We feel we're being victimised. The chief constable's intervention, where he strongly suggested there were individuals connected with our company who are involved in crime, are wholly without foundation."

Mr Cassidy has also enlisted the help of Shettleston councillor George Ryan, who has written to Mr House expressing concern that "such a well-run company is still being castigated" for events that took place before Mr Cassidy bought the firm.

A spokesman for the chief constable said: "Strathclyde Police is committed to sharing information with public and local authorities to block companies connected to, or which are fronts for, organised crime benefiting from public contacts."

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I have to wonder about this. Fair enough if the company are up to illegal activity then, yes, by all means pass on the intelligence to other bodies. It wouldn't be right that public money went to fund empires like that.

But...

It seems to me that, unless Strathclyde Police are willing to press charges, then their intelligence amounts to nothing more than malicious gossip and it's a clear abuse of power. If someone else started pointing the finger at Steve House with unsubstantiated claims you can bet your bottom dollar they would be up on a slander charge before they could draw breath. I'm also willing to bet that they would come under hugely increased scrutiny and that instances of them being stopped 'routinely' would shoot up.

If they have compelling evidence that laws are being broken then they should bring a prosecution. If they have suspicion then they should investigate further. If their suspicions and investigations bring them no closer to prosecution they should shut the hell up and stop messing in the affairs of entities they have nothing to do with.

They could, of course , be in the process of building a case against certain individuals connected with this business and not against the owner who could be just a front for other activities.

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Grandad,

Then in that case they have no business releasing intelligence to other bodies.

Why not?

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Grandad,

Because in its' current form it's little more than idle gossip and anyone else saying things without having to back them up would be leaving themselves open to accusations of slander.

Just because it's the police saying those things doesn't mean they don't have to back up their accusations. I also think it's a little worrying when the police start meddling in the affairs of businesses and the livelihoods of a few hundred drivers just because they're sore they couldn't get a prosecution.

Maybe they have backed up their accusations but only to the people that matter. They are hardly going to share sensitive information and inteligence with the likes of Joe Public.

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Grandad,

Ah, the old "people that matter" nudge nudge wink wink.

They're interfering the affairs of a business they claim is involved in illegitimate activities. A business doing this to its' competitors would be in Court very quickly but because it's the Police they can get away with idle gossip.

Would you feel so egalitarian if one of your competitors was advising potential customers not to use your services but refusing to back up any of their assertions? The Police back their assertions up by bringing prosecutions in a Court of Law. If they don't have enough to do that they should keep quiet until they do.