Taxi Driver Online

Stoke-on-Trent councillor 'helped' taxi driver win licence back


A CITY councillor helped a friend's son win back his taxi licence less than six months after he was convicted for an assault which left another driver with a broken jaw, it is claimed.

Labour's Majid Khan, below, voted in favour of reinstating convicted Azan Ahmed's license while sitting on Stoke-on-Trent City Council's licensing and registration panel – despite admitting he knew the Ahmed family.

The Etruria and Hanley councillor is accused of breaching the council's code of conduct by failing to declare a prejudicial interest in the case. He faces a hearing on Monday.

Hanley Park and Shelton councillor Amjid Wazir will face a similar allegation, related to the same vote, at a later hearing.

Mr Khan was due to serve as the city's Lord Mayor this year but quit as deputy to focus on clearing his name.

The allegations relate to a licensing hearing in April 2011, where Azan Ahmed won back his taxi license at the third time of asking. Mr Khan admits to knowing Azan Ahmed's father Zulfacar Ahmed, who is also a taxi driver.

In September 2010, Zulfacar Ahmed's sons Azan and Kasam, and his brother-in-law Jameel Bashir, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm after attacking taxi driver Mohammed Bashir at Stoke station.

They were sentenced to a 12-month supervision order by Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, ordered to carry out unpaid work and pay £2,000 compensation.

Mr Khan said his wife used to take Zulfacar Ahmed's children to school and he has visited the family's home for weddings and funerals. He acknowledged a 'personal interest' at the meeting but decided not to declare a prejudicial interest, which would have excluded him from the vote.

In her written evidence in a report ahead of Monday's meeting, Labour councillor Joy Garner, who was the panel's chairman at the time of the unanimous vote in Azan Ahmed's favour, said she was 'surprised' Mr Khan took part in the hearing.

She added: "I was very unhappy with Councillor Khan's decision."

Mrs Garner said the panel followed legal advice in supporting Azan Ahmed's application, which she was opposed to, but that Mr Khan was in favour of supporting it.

Mr Bashir, aged 52, of Shelton, said: "I feel very let down by the city council. I am still suffering from the assault."

Clare Clarke, the authority's deputy monitoring officer, investigated the case.

A decision on Mr Khan's conduct will be made by the panel, but Ms Clarke's report concludes that Mr Khan's decision to declare a personal interest was sufficient.

In April, Mr Khan was hit with a formal warning for breaching the members' code of conduct by failing to declare that he knew a taxi firm owner before voting on his licence application. He denies any wrongdoing.

In a statement, he said: "The only time I would go to their house would be for weddings or funerals. I have never been to any family member's house to socialise. I might have called to request money as I do monthly for the mosque. I would also have spoken to them if I had seen them in the street or at the mosque."

source: http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/St ... story.html

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

INSHALLAH!

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

no, he doesnt know them then

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Grease their palms with ££££££ and they will do anything, praise Allah.

Not sure corruption is an issue which any race/creed/religion has a monolopy on.

When it comes to money all bets are off.

You only have to see what happens when someone with money dies.

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IDFIMH

yeah, 300 sex attack compensation claims!

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Stoke-on-Trent City councillor Majid Khan cleared over taxi dispute



COUNCILLOR Majid Khan today spoke of his relief after being cleared of accusations that he used his position to help a convicted criminal win back his taxi licence.

A standards panel yesterday ruled the Labour member for Etruria and Hanley did not breach Stoke-on-Trent City Council's code of conduct when he voted to reinstate Azan Ahmed's licence.

A row broke out after the licensing meeting, which led to Mohammed Bashir, whose jaw was broken in the assault by Ahmed, being led out of the Civic Centre.

Mr Khan had declared a personal interest before the vote after admitting he knew Ahmed's father, Zulfacar Ahmed, as a 'member of the community', as well as collecting mosque funds from his house and joining him at weddings and funerals.

But he denied council evidence stating that his wife used to take Zulfacar Ahmed's children to school and denied his interest was 'prejudicial' – which would have excluded him from the vote.

Mr Khan, who gave up the chance to be Lord Mayor to fight the allegations, said: "I have always said I had not done anything wrong and now it has been proven. I'm very glad it's over.

"It's back to business and doing my best to serve the community and the people who elected me."

Ahmed won back his taxi license at the third attempt in April.

Mr Khan had abstained from the previous two votes but had not declared a personal interest – although minutes of the second vote were amended retrospectively to record one.

In September 2010, Zulfacar Ahmed's sons Azan and Kasam, and his brother-in-law Jameel Bashir, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm after attacking taxi driver Mohammed Bashir at Stoke station.

They were sentenced to a 12-month supervision order by Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, ordered to carry out unpaid work and pay £2,000 compensation.

Zafar Ali, representing Mr Bashir, told yesterday's hearing: "Mr Bashir believes there was a significant relationship – so significant that it should have been clear that there was a lack of impartiality on the part of the councillor involved."

Clare Clarke, the authority's deputy monitoring officer, said: "This is not an issue about the dreadful assault on Mr Bashir, and it is not about whether Ahmed should have received his licence back.

"It's an issue of whether Majid Khan had an interest in the matter and what that interest was."

Panel chairman Ann James said: "Having considered the evidence, we do not consider that the interest was so significant that it amounted to a prejudicial interest.

"It did not breach the members' code of conduct."

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/St ... story.html

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Sounds like the MP's who "never broke any rules" regarding their expenses

Councillor faces standards committee after trying to settle attack case out of court


A CITY councillor phoned a friend of a serious assault victim to try to persuade him to settle the case out of court, a standards panel will hear.

Amjid Wazir is accused of failing to declare an interest before voting to reinstate the taxi licence of a man who was convicted less than six months earlier of an assault which broke another driver's draw.

He faces the standards committee on Monday, when members will decide if he breached the authority's code of conduct.

The Labour councillor denies claims he is a close family friend of the convicted driver, Azan Ahmed, but admits contacting an associate of victim Mohammed Bashir in an attempt to broker an out-of-court resolution before the conviction.

Mr Bashir claims Mr Wazir is good friends with Azan Ahmed's father Zulfacar Ahmed. The Hanley Park and Shelton councillor denies the claim.

But asked if he made the call before the court case, he said in a report to Monday's meeting: "Yes. I phoned Karmit Ali as a respected elder member of the community to see if he could sort out the issues between Mr Bashir and Mr Ahmed to try and calm things down."

The allegations relate to a licensing hearing in April 2011, when Azan Ahmed won back his taxi licence at the third attempt.

In September 2010, Zulfacar Ahmed's sons Azan and Kasam, and his brother-in-law Jameel Bashir, admitted causing actual bodily harm after attacking taxi driver Mohammed Bashir at Stoke station.

They were sentenced to a 12-month supervision order by Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, ordered to carry out unpaid work and pay £2,000 compensation. Mr Wazir voted against a motion to refuse Azan Ahmed his licence at the second hearing.

The panel unanimously voted to reinstate the licence at the third hearing, despite the chairman's opposition, after legal advice.

Majid Khan, Labour councillor for Etruria and Hanley, was cleared this month of failing to declare a prejudicial interest before voting on the same decision.

Councillor Joy Garner, the panel's chairman, said: "Councillor Wazir said very little during the panel but I felt that he knew more about the applicant than he said.

"At the election count, Councillor Wazir, Mr Ahmed's father and other family members were seen by the clerk to the panel and other officers together for a long time and were clearly more than passing acquaintances."

Glyn Cross, the council's principal licensing officer, said: "I was surprised by the decision of the panel as I did not feel that Azan had spent sufficient time away from the rank.

"There have been others in similar situations where the panel have said they are not a fit and proper person. Under the old guidelines, Azan would have had to have been conviction-free for three to five years.

"Although these guidelines no longer apply, I did feel that six months was far too soon."

Clare Clarke, deputy monitoring officer, investigated the case and will recommend that Mr Wazir did not have an interest to declare – in part because friendship boundaries are blurred by large turnouts at gatherings in the Asian community.

She said: "I'm afraid whatever my findings, Mr Bashir will not find the justice he seeks."

Mr Bashir said: "For me this will not stop because I want to see justice done. I believe there has been an abuse of power."

Last year Mr Wazir was suspended without pay for a month after attempting to use his position to get a friend's daughter into an over-subscribed school.

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Co ... story.html

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin