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I find it hard to believe that the owner of this private hire firm was ignorant of the fact that this man had been banned from driving.
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Lancashire Evening Post
November 28, 2007
Banned driver caught behind wheel of cab
A man who vandalised the car of a witness in a court case has been caught behind the wheel of a taxi while banned from the road.
Police arrested Imran Lambat, 27, after spotting him driving an eight-seater taxi in Deepdale in the early hours of November 18.
He was convicted at Preston Crown Court last week of driving while disqualified and remanded in custody until December 17 when he will be sentenced.
Lambat, of Rowberrow Close, Fulwood, was given a job by Preston private hire firm New City Taxis - despite not having a valid driving licence.
He was banned from driving for two years at Preston Crown Court in January when he admitted vandalising a car owned by Ribbleton woman Jane Chamberlain. Miss Chamberlain had been due to testify against Lambat in a careless driving trial in March 2006.
In what was described as a "prolonged, sustained act of vandalism", Lambat smashed four windows of Miss Chamberlain's Ford Focus with a hammer, slashed all four of her tyres and damaged the front wing of the car.
The judge in that case gave Lambat a suspended 51-week prison sentence and ordered him to carry out 300 hours unpaid work and pay £1,000 costs.
Lambat, who had previously worked as a taxi driver, had another previous conviction for driving while disqualified. He was given a one-year community order for the offence when he appeared at South Ribble Magistrates Court in September 2006.
Paul Cookson, head of operations at New City Taxis in Moor Lane, said Lambat had now been sacked.
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Cornish Guardian
November 28, 2007 Wednesday
Taxi rank campaign stalls as council refuses car park use
A campaign to get a taxi rank in Wadebridge has stalled after the town council declined the use of its car park on safety grounds.
All seven local taxi companies have suffered a decline in business since limited waiting bays were changed to loading bays last month during stage one of the pedestrianisation of Molesworth Street. Some have experienced a 50% drop in profits.
Last week a meeting on the issue was attended by representatives from the taxi companies, police, North Cornwall District Council (NCDC), Cornwall County Council highways department and Wadebridge Town Council.
Among several suggestions made was a proposal to use yellow hatched areas within the Co-operative car park - owned by the town council - as a temporary rank while the highways department investigates changing the bays on The Platt into a mixed use facility.
But at Wednesday's full council meeting, it was decided that on the safety grounds the taxis should not use the area.
Town clerk Elizabeth Banfield said: "The cars are sometime left unattended whilst drivers get newspapers or go to get passengers. The yellow areas are there to remain clear as a heath and safety precaution and cannot be blocked."
Cllr Tony Rush said: "The taxi drivers do provide an invaluable service to the town and I hope they find a solution."
After the meeting, Colin Williams from Wadebridge Taxis, who has been spearheading the campaign, said: "We are extremely disappointed that the council turned down the proposals. We have had an overwhelming response from the public, signing our petition, as we provide a service to the shoppers of Wadebridge more so now that we have no local bus service.
"The town councillors have been elected by the public to act on their behalf but instead they seem to be ignoring the views of the people."
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