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Another Taxi driver robbed / attacked
in Keighley West Yorkshire within days of Mr Mamood Ahmed being viciously murdered.
TAXI TODAY June issue
SAVAGE MURDER OF KEIGHLEY CABBIE
Taxi drivers in Keighley, West Yorkshire gave the police a lot of support when trying to trace the person who murdered 36-year-old Mamood Ahmed.
A man walking his dog down an isolated road near Keighley at 7.23am on Tuesday 25th April found the body. Mr Ahmed died from a stab wound to his chest and he also suffered a number of blows to his head with a blunt instrument. His body had been dumped in the brambles at the side of Slack Lane, Oakworth.
This horrific murder sent shock waves through the taxi community in Keighely and the surrounding area. “He was a very kind and loving person and was devoted to his children. They were everything to him,” said his brother Shahid. Mahmood leaves six children orphaned, including a two-week-old baby girl.
His taxi, a silver Vauxhall Vectra, was discovered in Maize Street, Keighley, about ten hours after his body was found. Mahmood Ahmed had been working with Speedline Taxis for about two years and on Tuesday night his colleagues became concerned when they could not reach him by mobile phone at about 11.30pm. Mr. Ahmed’s friend and manager of Speedline, Majid Hanif said, “He was one of the brightest lads here and he was loved by us all. They had all planned to go for a meal in Shipley, but they cancelled it when they couldn’t get hold of him.”
It was Mr. Ahmed’s family who contacted Mr. Hanif when he had not arrived home by Tuesday morning.
Keighley Councillor Khadim Hussain said, “Mr. Ahmed was a very quiet, polite family man – a religious man who attended the Medina Mosque in Spencer Street, Keighley. He was doing his duty, earning his living for his family.”
Supt. Paul Kennedy of the Homicide and Major Inquiry Team lead this enquiry said on Friday 28th April that the police were anxious to trace a man in connection with this murder. Captured on a street camera, it was extremely likely that this man was murder victim Mahmood Ahmed’s last passenger. The man was caught on CCTV climbing into a silver vehicle the police believed could have been Manhood’s Vauxhall Vectra. Mahmood had driven to the location, at the junction of Oakworth Road and Malsis Road, Keighley, to collect the man. This man, who reportedly spoke with a local accent, ordered a taxi from Speedline Taxis at 10.35pm on Monday. He asked to be picked up from outside the Merry Melon fruit and vegetable shop in Oakworth Road. Supt. Kennedy said the CCTV footage was timed a minute after the call. The film shows a man standing outside the shop, talking on his mobile phone before getting into the silver vehicle. Mahmood’s vehicle was reported driving at speed on Ingrow Lane, near the junction with Bracken Bank Avenue around half an hour after the Merry Melon pickup.
Supt. Kennedy said at the time that the killer could have been left with blood on his hands and clothes following the murder. There seemed to be no clear motive for this murder and it appeared to be an isolated incident”, said Supt. Kennedy.
However, the violence against taxi drivers continues in the Keighley area. Jhangir Hussain was robbed at knifepoint and feared for his life as a gang who threatened to stab him at about 12.45am on Monday 8th May 2006. As the four attackers ordered him to stop, he heard one say, “One more dead taxi driver won’t make a difference. Another man said, “Don’t beat him. Let him go. Just take the money”
About £350 was snatched from 34 hear old Mr. Hussain’s wallet, by a man wearing a hooded top, after he had placed it on the passenger seat of his minibus.
“I was very scared when they said one more taxi driver won’t make any difference”
The robbery took place about a mile from where the body of Mahmood Ahmed was found two weeks previously.
Mr. Hussain, of Cliffe Street, Keighley, said his ordeal began when he picked up a man in South Street, Keighley, who asked him to go to Hainworth Wood Road in the town and pick up three others. They all sat in the back. They ordered him to Vale Mill Lane, Oakworth, where one man reached from the back and pushed the screwdriver or blade into his neck. He was also hit on the shoulder and ordered to stop. After the attack, three of the robbers jumped over a wall and the fourth walked away along the road.
Mr. Hussain suffered a graze on his neck and a bruised shoulder and received hospital treatment.
His boss, Pervez Naik of Oxford Private Hire, Keighley, who is pressing for CCTV cameras to be compulsory in cabs, said, “This is very worrying. It’s another example of how vulnerable taxi drivers are. They don’t feel safe and of course, they have families”.
“They are doing a public service and they are at risk of being threatened and robbed. Unlike buses, we run throughout the night and you never know who you will pick up”.
Taxi drivers are used to people not paying and kicking out at the car, but the recent incidents were fare more worrying.
The police said the robbery of Mr. Hussain was not being linked to the death of Mr. Ahmed.
Steven Cullen, 38, of Church Street, Keighley, has been charged with the murder of Mr. Ahmed.
I don’t know how taxi drivers can protect themselves from unprovoked attacks, but certainly having CCTV in all cabs would be a step in the right direction. Taxi drivers across the country must be feeling more vulnerable after reading about these two incidents in Keighley. Let us just hope that these are isolated instances and that there will be no more tragedies.
Mr. Ahmed's death has prompted pledges fro taxi bosses to help firms fit CCTV in their cars to safeguard cabbies and customers.
Anyone who has information about the robbery of Mr. Hussain should telephone (01535) 617059.
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