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Attack leads to fresh calls for taxi CCTV Taxi drivers have made fresh calls for security cameras to be installed in all taxis in Rushmoor in a bid to curb the number of attacks on drivers.
They renewed their plea to Rushmoor Borough Council for a grant to help pay for closed-circuit television systems to be fitted in all registered vehicles in Rushmoor after an incident on December 20.
Hampshire Constabulary said a male taxi driver was attacked by three men.
The victim, whose taxi was also damaged in the incident, was taken to Frimley Park Hos-pital where he was treated for rib injuries.
Another taxi driver, Roger Watkins, said the incident was the latest of several in the area.
He urged the council to push for a response to an application it made in the summer to the Government Office for the South-East (GOSE) for funding to help pay for the systems to send a clear message to residents that violence against taxi drivers will not be tolerated.
The cameras would be installed in hackney carriages — black cabs — and private hire taxis in Rushmoor.
Mr Watkins said: “There needs to be a clear statement made to impress on others using our taxi services at night that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. If we had the cameras a lot more incidents would be reported. It would show the perpetrators up and help to identify them. This guy was just doing his job.”
Taxi drivers first called on the council to help protect them against violent custom-ers in August after an attack which police described as the first armed robbery on a taxi driver in Aldershot or Farnborough.
Four males armed with kitchen knives threatened a taxi driver, and stole his mobile phone plus £130, when he was called to attend an address in Ballantyne Road, Farnborough, in the early hours of August 14.
The victim, a taxi driver for 27 years, was covering for another driver and taking calls directly from the A1 Rushmoor Radio Taxis hotline on his mobile phone at the time of the incident.
Funds to continue a taxi marshalling scheme aimed at keeping taxi drivers and customers in Aldershot safe were extended last month until at least April next year following a successful pilot carried out during the summer.
The scheme, run by Rushmoor Borough Council and Hampshire Constabulary in conjunction with Reading firm Monarch Security, provides marshals who monitor people in the taxi rank outside Vox nightclub in Station Road from 10pm to 3am every Friday and Saturday.
They get them to line up in an orderly manner and direct people to taxis.
Drunk or rowdy people are stopped from getting into a taxi to protect the drivers.
Drivers in the area say the scheme has been a success and support its continuation.
But one taxi driver, who did not wish to be named, said he had been attacked twice while working and could not afford £1,500 to fit CCTV cameras in his car.
He said: “The times it has happened to me are certainly not the only incidents where a driver has been hurt within the Rushmoor area.
“We are providing a public service exactly the same as buses and trains.
“They have cameras and I’m sure their drivers didn’t pay for them themselves.
“We need the council’s help in order for us to continue the public service that we do. We are sitting targets out there.”
The council bid for funding for car security systems two years ago but was unsuccessful.
Following the attack in August, licensing manager John McNab said the council was asking the GOSE for money to help pay for them.
At the time of going to press a council spokesman could not confirm the application’s progress.
Police have arrested three men from Aldershot — two aged 25 and an 18-year-old — in relation to the December 20 attack. They were bailed to return to Aldershot police sta-tion at a later date.
No arrests have been made in connection with the armed robbery on August 14.
Detectives gave descriptions of three of the four robbers and appealed for witnesses.
All three are aged between 15 and 20, and are of slim to medium build. One is Asian and 5ft 5in to 5ft 6in tall. He wore a grey or white hoodie and a dark blue scarf around his mouth and nose. Another is 5ft 6in to 5ft 7in tall and wore a black hoodie. The third is 5ft 5in tall, and wore a light grey hoodie and a dark scarf across his face.
Anyone with information should call Det Con Andy Grieve at Aldershot CID on 0845 0454545 or Crimestopp-ers anonymously and free on 0800 555111.
source: http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/loca ... xi-5351440
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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
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