Taxi Driver Online

New thread on the Rochdale murder trial

Reading this, immediate thought is that maybe they should have been tried for manslaughter rather than murder, at least insofar as they would maybe be more likely to be found guilty of manslaughter, but not murder


'Uber address mistake' led two Oldham men to murder taxi driver, court told

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/2 ... ourt-told/

A mistaken address on the Uber app led two Oldham men to murder a taxi driver, a court has heard.

Ali Asghar, 39, was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being attacked on Queensway in Rochdale on Saturday, October 30.

Mr Asghar died in hospital 15 days later on Sunday, November 14.

Connor McPartland, 20, of Hollins Road, and Martin Treacy, 18, of Gawsworth Close, have both been charged with his murder and have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Their trial began at Manchester Crown Court yesterday (May 9), with prosecutor Galais Gozem telling the jury that the two men had been ‘keen to celebrate’ the Halloween weekend and went out on Friday, October 29, 2021.

He said they were ‘extremely drunk’ by the time they got into the back of Mr Asghar’s taxi at 4.30am on Saturday morning.

Prosecutor Mr Gozem told the court that McPartland had ordered the taxi on the Uber app from Oldham town centre with the intention to meet girls at a club in Rochdale city centre called Kokko Lounge.

McPartland, however, entered the address for Coco's Grillhouse and Desserts in Queensway, Rochdale into the app.

The taxi arrived at the address and paused before stopping near a Shell petrol station.

The court heard that Mr Asghar opened the rear passenger door to let the passengers out and it was at this point that a ‘ferocious argument’ broke out which led to a ‘totally unforgivable attack’ which culminated in Mr Asghar being pushed over cracking his head and fracturing his skull.

Another taxi driver, Mohammad Khalid, saw Mr Asghar being confronted and attempted to reason with the two men.

He then retreated to his taxi fearing he would also be attacked and called the police.

The court heard that a witness was woken up by shouting and heard one of the defendants say "Come on then, come on then, call the police” before hearing a banging noise.

CCTV footage of the garage shows Mr Asghar reaching into his car for his mobile phone which Mr Gozem said may reflect the moment the witness heard the shouts.

Mr Asghar managed to get up at this point and disappears from the camera’s view.

The two men chased him and referring to Mr Asghar, Mr Gozem said: “Tragically he stumbled and fell over and they kicked him in the face and head.”

McPartland then went to the driver’s door of Mr Aghar’s car and said he was going to steal it, according to the prosecutor.

Despite suffering serious facial injuries, including a fractured cheekbone, Mr Asghar managed to get up and make his way back towards his car.

The court heard that another witness who lived nearby to the scene saw one of the defendants lunge toward Mr Asgar and push him causing him to fall and hit his head.

The defendants then stood for several minutes before running off.

Mr Khalid then found Mr Asghar on the floor by the kerb next to his car bleeding heavily from the head.

Mr Asghar was taken by ambulance to Royal Oldham Hospital and was then transferred to the Salford Royal Hospital with a serious brain injury where he died in intensive care two weeks later.

The trial will continue this week.


Taxi driver tells murder trial jury he saw man ‘repeatedly kicked in the head'

A taxi driver has taken to the stand to give evidence as part of a murder trial into the death of an Uber driver in Rochdale.

Ali Asghar, 39, was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being attacked on Queensway in Rochdale on Saturday, October 30.

Mr Asghar died in hospital 15 days later on Sunday, November 14.

Connor McPartland, 20, of Hollins Road, Oldham, and Martin Treacy, 18, of Gawsworth Close, Oldham, have both been charged with his murder and have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Mohammad Khalid took to the stand at Manchester Crown Court today (May 10) and told the jury that he was working as a taxi driver on the night of the attack and saw Mr Asghar ‘kicked in the head repeatedly’ near the Shell petrol station on Queensway.

He attempted to reason with the two men who were attacking Mr Asghar, telling the jury: "My focus was trying to save the taxi driver."

One of the men, who he described as a ‘lad in a white T-shirt’, then went to his car and threatened to steal it while ‘another lad in a black T-shirt’ carried on attacking Mr Asghar.

He also heard someone shout ‘I will stab you’.

Fearing he was also in danger he got back into his car and called the police.

It was at this point that he heard a ‘big scream’ and someone shouting, ‘run, run’.

The police constable that arrested McPartland that night later took to the stand and said that when he searched McPartland he found a multi-tool knife in his left pocket.

Mr Khalid went on to tell the jury that he came across another taxi driver that night, who told him he was ‘already on the phone to the police’ after seeing the incident.

He also took to the stand and confirmed he had seen the incident while driving past and called the police.

He said he heard a voice say, ‘enough stop enough’ and saw ‘two guys beating one man’ and ‘punching him’.

He added that he went to have a look and saw a man lying on a footpath with ‘blood coming from his nose and head’ and called an ambulance.

A third taxi driver called Mr Iqbal also gave evidence.

He told the court that he had been driving back from the airport and went to the Shell garage on Queensway to fill up where he saw Mr Khalid standing on the footpath with another man.

He asked Mr Khalid what happened and was told that ‘somebody had been attacked by two lads’ who ‘ran away’.

Mr Iqbal was invited to help look for the two men after being shown a man on the floor who had ‘blood all over’ and on the floor next to him.

Two witness statements were then read out to the court.

One witness, who lives near the Shell garage, said heard a voice that said ‘come on have a go’ but did not see anything.

Another witness said they too did not see anything but were woken by a ‘commotion’ and voices on Queensway that sounded like ‘two young lads and an older Asian male’.

The witness said they thought it was a ‘taxi driver having a dispute’ and later heard someone say ‘come on then, come on then. Get the police, phone the police’ before hearing a ‘banging noise that lasted for around 45 minutes’.

At the trial opening on Monday, Galais Gozem, prosecuting, told the court that a pathologist had concluded the pattern of facial injuries suffered by Mr Asghar was consistent with a ‘sustained assault’ and that the cause of death was a head injury.

The jury was also told that Treacy had admitted manslaughter but denied that he intended to cause the taxi driver serious harm.

McPartland also denies manslaughter and two counts of making threats with an offensive weapon.

The trial will continue this week.

That says Treacy has admitted manslaughter, while McPartland denies manslaughter. So does that mean they're being tried for both murder and manslaughter?

I thought it was kind of either/or, so if they were tried for murder and found not guilty, then they couldn't be guilty of manslaughter. But maybe that's how it works in Scotland, but I'm not sure

the other driver witness seems to be at odds with other witnesses statements I hope he isn't trying to guild the Lilly a little because that could jeopardise getting the right verdict

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Oldham man accused of murdering taxi driver tells court he ‘did not inflict final blow’

AN Oldham man accused of murdering a taxi driver in Rochdale has told the court he ‘did not inflict any injuries’ or the ‘final blow’.

Connor McPartland, 20, and, Martin Treacy, 18, are both accused of murdering 39-year-old taxi driver Ali Asghar.

At the trial opening last week prosecutor Galais Gozem told the jury that McPartland, who gave evidence at Manchester Crown Court today (May 16), had ordered the taxi on the Uber app from Oldham town centre with the intention to meet girls at a club in Rochdale called Kokko Lounge on Saturday, October 30.

McPartland, however, entered the address for Coco's Grillhouse and Desserts in Queensway, Rochdale into the app.

The taxi arrived at the address and paused before stopping near a Shell petrol station shortly after 4am.

The court heard that Mr Asghar opened the rear passenger door to let the passengers out and it was at this point that a ‘ferocious argument’ broke out which led to a ‘totally unforgiving attack’ which culminated in Mr Asghar being pushed over cracking his head and fracturing his skull.

Mr Asghar died in hospital 15 days later on Sunday, November 14.

McPartland denies murder and manslaughter and Treacy has admitted manslaughter but denies murder and has declined to give evidence at the trial.

Giving evidence today, McPartland told the jury that a row about Treacy eating a takeaway chicken burger in Mr Asghar’s car had in fact erupted and that from his angle it looked like Mr Asghar pulled Treacy out of his car and had started the violence.

He said that at the time, but not now, he thought Mr Asghar was ‘out of order’ and shouted at him and kicked him in the legs before later trying ‘to stop things’ after noticing Mr Asghar was bleeding from his nose.

Video footage of the incident was played in court and Prosecutor Gozem described McPartland as appearing and launching a ‘roundhouse kick’ at Mr Asghar which caused a multi-tool to fall out his pocket.

McPartland said the kick was ‘just to scare’ Mr Asghar and that his foot would not have hit his head had it of landed, he also denied that he threatened to stab Mr Asghar.

Recounting what happened Prosecutor Gozem told the court that Mr Asghar then reached into his car for his phone and McPartland kicked his car door.

The two men then faced each other and Treacy came up behind McPartland and threw a ‘running punch’ to the side of Mr Asghar’s head.

McPartland said he then saw that Mr Asghar was bleeding from his nose and ‘stopped throwing kicks’ and went to open Mr Asghar’s car door while telling him to ‘get in’ and Treacy to ‘leave it’.

Instead Treacy pushed Mr Asghar who fell and hit his head on the alloy wheel of his Mercedes and cracked his skull.

Explaining why he did not phone an ambulance at this point McPartland said he did not know Mr Asghar had hit his head.

Prosecutor Gozem told the court that one witness had ‘heard the sound through double glazed windows.’

McPartland told the jury he only shared ‘half the responsibility’ for what happened that night and reiterated that he kicked Mr Asghar in the legs but did not cause him any facial injuries and ‘did not inflict the final blow’.

He said he tried to push Treacy away from Mr Asghar on ‘multiple occasions’ and that every time he tried to ‘cool down’ the situation it ‘blew up again’.

McPartland, who the court heard had drank 30 drinks that night, added that he was ‘drunk’ and not ‘thinking clearly’ and ‘made the wrong decisions’ for which he was sorry.

The trial continues.

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IDFIMH

Two friends guilty of murdering Uber driver in 'ferocious, brutal' attack

Two friends have been convicted of murder after an Uber driver was brutally killed. Ali Asghar, 38, was set upon by 20-year-old Connor McPartland and 18-year-old Martin Treacy after the pair got into his Mercedes taxi on Halloween weekend last year.

Mr Asghar had pulled over the taxi after Treacy swore at him when he asked the teenager to stop eating a takeaway in the back of the car. In the ensuing confrontation Mr Asghar was brutally attacked, suffering devastating head injuries which proved fatal two weeks after the attack.

It followed an earlier mix-up after McPartland had spelt the name of their intended destination wrong. Treacy admitted manslaughter ahead of the trial, but denied murder. McPartland denied murder and manslaughter. Now, after eight hours and 27 minutes of deliberations, a jury have found both McPartland and Treacy guilty of murder. They are due to be sentenced on Monday (May 23).

Manchester Crown Court heard how the pair had been out in Oldham town centre on October 29 last year before McPartland ordered an Uber to take them to Rochdale. They planned to meet with some girls and then attend a house party for Halloween.

McPartland asked to be taken to Coco's in Rochdale via the popular app. He had intended to be taken to Koko's, a nightclub in Rochdale town centre. Coco's is a restaurant just outside the town centre, the court heard.

The mix-up was resolved but Mr Asghar pulled over the taxi shortly after, when he challenged Treacy who had started eating a chicken burger and chips in the back of his car.

Treacy swore at him and refused to stop eating. Mr Asghar pulled over near a petrol station on Queensway in Rochdale at about 4am, and much of the ensuing confrontation was captured on CCTV.

Mr Asghar was subjected to a 'ferocious, brutal and totally unforgiving attack'. It culminated with him being pushed to the floor and banging his head against the wheel of his car, which caused him to bleed heavily. He suffered catastrophic brain injuries and died two weeks later.

Treacy admitted manslaughter and did not give evidence at the trial. McPartland, who denied murder and manslaughter, said he had not punched Mr Asghar to the head and claimed he tried to act as a peacemaker after noticing the taxi driver had a bloody nose.

He told Mr Asghar's family he was 'deeply sorry' and 'ashamed' of his actions but maintained his innocence.

But McPartland, of Hollins Road, Oldham, and Treacy, of Gawsworth Close, Oldham were both convicted of an offence of murder. They will be sentenced on Monday (May 23).

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IDFIMH