'If I see these people, they'll get stabbed up' - Taxi driver branded a 'danger to the public' after being caught with knife in his cab
https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/st ... ed-3787255
Azhar Hussain has now lost his taxi licence
Image: Stoke Sentinel
Taxi driver Azhar Hussain has been branded ‘a danger to the public’ after police found a knife in his car.
Officers searched the 30-year-old’s vehicle because he had previously told police he planned to arm himself with a blade, in response to a series of threats made against him.
But although Hussain admitted to having put the weapon in his glove box, he claimed he had been using it for DIY and forgot it was there.
A judge rejected his account and sentenced him to 21 weeks in prison, while Newcastle Borough Council has revoked his taxi licence in order to protect the public.
North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard Hussain was alone in his cab when police stopped him in Trentham Road.
Prosecutor Alicia Perry said: “The officers’ Automatic Number Plate Recognition triggered in respect of the defendant’s vehicle. He was suspected to be carrying a knife due to threats of violence that had been made towards him.
“The defendant was searched. An officer found a knife in the glove box. The defendant admitted he had put the knife there. He said he had taken it into B&Q to cut some plastic. He denied telling a police officer he had said he was going to keep a knife in his vehicle for protection."
The court heard Hussain had been subjected to threats, which he had reported to police, since the breakdown of his arranged marriage.
Miss Perry said: “A statement was made to police in which the defendant said, ‘These people are dangerous, they are terrorists. They’ve got knives and guns. I’m going to be carrying a kitchen knife in my car. If I see these people again they are going to get stabbed up’.”
Hussain, of Erskine Street, Dresden, pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place on August 30 last year. The court heard there was also a hammer in the glove box.
Tac Hussain, mitigating said: “He was frustrated and disappointed that Staffordshire Police could not take any action with regard to the threats he had received. The comment was made in anger because he wasn’t hearing what he wanted.
“Two weeks before he was stopped he had been to B&Q and purchased some materials. He had placed the items in the glove box and forgot about them.”
But Deputy District Judge David Goodman said Hussain’s account was ‘nonsense’.
Sentencing him, the judge said: “Those who carry knives for what they describe as self-protection would evidently use those knives if the circumstances, as they saw them, arose. That must be deterred by court sentences.
"To say you had forgotten about the knife is nonsense. To say it was in your car because you had been doing DIY is ridiculous. You are a danger to the public.”
Newcastle Borough Council welcomed the Hussain’s prosecution.
Councillor Stephen Sweeney, cabinet member for finance and efficiency, said: “The council welcomes this prosecution. Carrying a knife, especially when you’re a taxi driver, is a very serious offence.
“We revoked Mr Hussain’s licence with immediate effect in the interests of protecting the public.
“The council, and customers, demand the highest possible standards from our taxi drivers at all times. Our robust taxi licensing policy is designed to ensure that drivers – and their vehicles – provide a public service which puts the safety and welfare of passengers as the first priority.”
