Taxi Driver Online

Clear video of the incident YouTube

https://youtu.be/QXQUZUEu3mk

Jail for Warren Hearne from Hythe and Danny Frost from Ashford who torched a taxi at Seabrook Road petrol station

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone ... on-195359/






Images: Daily Mail/Kent Police

Two men have been branded as evil and malicious after ordering a cabbie to drive to a petrol station before pouring fuel inside his car and torching it.

The blaze wrecked the taxi and damaged the pump at the BP station in Seabrook Road and melted a large plastic bucket.

Shocking footage of the fireball played to the court and showed how for 10 minutes flames were clearly seen licking around the petrol pump.

Arsonists father-of-three Warren Hearne and Danny Frost both fled the blaze “like cowards.”

They hailed other taxis to take them out of the area, leaving their victim terrified.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how firemen fought the fire for three minutes using a powerful hose leaving the taxi “a steaming wreck".

Hearne, of Barn Cottage, Hythe and Frost, 27 of Hever Gardens, Ashford have now received prison sentences of five years and seven months after admitting the reckless arson in December last year.

Hearne, a 37 year old ground worker, received an extra nine months for breaching a suspended sentence, and drink driving, making a total of 76 months.

Prosecutor Miles Trigg told how the two men had been thrown out of the Neptune Pub in Dymchurch, gone to the nearby New Beach Holiday Camp and ordered a cab, which was driven by Abdulawar Malikzadev.

During the journey, drunken Hearne opened a rear door and then Frost berated the taxi driver for stopping. The victim was also threatened with an iron bar.

Mr Malikzadev was then told to go to the BP station where Hearne claimed he wanted to buy alcohol.

Mr Trigg added that once the cab was stopped, Hearne grabbed the nozzle and put .41p worth of petrol into the rear seat - as the taxi driver looked on in horror.

And as the taxi driver pleaded with the men to stop, Hearne pointed the nozzle at him threatening him.

Then with Frost still in the vehicle, the blaze was started and the two men ran away, leaving the cabbie to attempt to rescue some of his belongings.

Mr Trigg added that fortunately the fire brigade arrived in 10 minutes and prevented the fire from engulfing the rest of the station and nearby flats.

Defence barrister Ben Walker-Nolan said Hearne was horrified and ashamed and accepts he was "hostile and belligerent" during the journey.

The lawyer said it had been an act of "pure stupidity" but Judge James O'Mahony retorted: "I have seen the footage to me it was evil and malicious."

Phil Rowley, for Frost, said his partner is expecting their first child next year and could not say why he carried out the attack.

He said: "This was just drunken idiocy and when he was shown the footage he was genuinely shocked by his actions."

The judge said Hearne had shown malice toward a man who had done nothing against him.

He also commended the fire brigades for its prompt response which averted “an utter disaster”.

The Judge is correct.

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IDFIMH

Indeed and one of these was no stranger to a court of law

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Late night filling stations, don't you just love them


Arsonist high on speed set fire to taxi at petrol station

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... e-17933454

He filled a bottle with petrol from a pump and emptied it over the taxi driver's parked car, then set fire to it


Image: Liverpool Echo

A man deliberately torched a car in a petrol station forecourt after a four-day drugs binge.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Polish national Krzysztof Sikora put everyone in the vicinity "at extreme risk of injury or death" after setting fire to a parked taxi.

On November 23 last year, a taxi driver visited the Esso petrol station in Albert Road, Southport, to which a Tesco Express store was attached.

At the same time, 32-year-old Sikora also visited the service station, and stole a bottle of engine coolant.

Derek Jones, prosecuting, said Sikora then went to the forecourt, where he emptied the bottle, filled it with petrol from a pump, emptied it over the taxi driver's car, parked by the petrol pump, and set fire to it.

He then yelled "this is for murdering the Slovakians" before making off from the scene.

Fortunately, the prompt actions of the forecourt shop manager in extinguishing the blaze prevented the incident from having more serious consequences.

However the blaze caused damage estimated at around £1,000 to the taxi. Neither the driver nor Sikora knew each other.

Mr Jones said: "There were staff at work in the station, as well as members of the public - including two females with children in prams. There were also nearby residential properties which were put at risk by the smoke."

When he was arrested shortly afterwards nearby, Sikora was at first taken to hospital for treatment for burns to his hands. While there, he threw a glass of water at a police officer who was trying to help him.

Mr Jones said Sikora committed the actions while experiencing a "psychotic episode" as a result of a four-day binge on amphetamines.

A few hours before the petrol station incident, Sikora had been involved in a crash in Ormskirk.

However, police simply put him in a taxi to be driven to his home address in Albany Road, Southport.

Damian Nolan, defending, stressed that his client was not a pyromaniac and he had derived no "emotional satisfaction" from committing the offence.

He added that his comment about the Slovakians after torching the car was "part and parcel of his odd behaviour that day. It does not represent any particular prejudice towards anyone based on their nationality."

Sikora had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered, and assault on an emergency worker.

The court heard how his actions could have led to a major conflagration due to the proximity of petrol pumps and underground storage tankers.

Judge Gary Woodhall told shaven-headed Sikora, who appeared by videolink from HMP Liverpool: "I am persuaded you put people at risk of serious harm.

"The rapid intervention of the shop manager in putting out the fire undoubtedly prevented escalation into a much more serious fire.

"The cause of this offending was an argument with your partner. She having moved out, you responded by using drugs and not sleeping for four days.

"This was not a truly impulsive offence. You stole the coolant and multiple people were endangered, not just those in the store but in neighbouring properties."

He jailed Sikora for a total of two-and-a-half years, of which he must serve half before being released on licence.