Banned : ‘Because I tried to stop my nephew’s killers’A minicab driver who lost his licence for trying to ward off murderers is fighting for justice.
Khalil Ur Rehman’s minicab badge was withdrawn by council bosses in the wake of the taxigate rapist cabbie scandal.
The 54-year-old was convicted of violent disorder eight years ago after jumping in to intervene when his nephew Atiq Rehman was being attacked by outside Wolverton Mosque.
Just weeks later the attackers struck again, and 18-year-old Atiq was beaten to death with a snooker cue .
Three of the killers were later jailed for murder and the court heard their violence stemmed from a long-running dispute over a “power struggle” at the mosque.
Mr Rehman, who has been driving minicabs for 15 years, told Milton Keynes Council immediately of his conviction and explained the circumstances of the offence.
“I had to go before a panel and they all agreed it was fine. I was not a danger to the public, they said.”
But the council’s attitude changed last summer when it was revealed that Mayor Subhan Shafiq had given a glowing character reference for his friend - a convicted rapist - to be granted a minicab driving licence.
Officers immediately began conducting revised background checks on all city taxi drivers.
“They called me in and said I could no longer have my licence. Even though they’d accepted my conviction for all those years, they said I was now not a fit and proper person,” said Mr Rehman, whose record is otherwise unblemished.
“I feel I have been tarred with the same brush as a rapist and it is unfair.
“All I did was try to defend my nephew from the men who later murdered him,”
Now the newly formed MK Private Hire Drivers Association is fighting for Mr Rehman’s licence to be reinstated as soon as possible.
Meanwhile and ironically, Mr Shafiq, who has resigned from the council in disgrace, now works as a city taxi driver. His council licence enables him to drive a minibus for a children’s school run contract and and a private hire vehicle.
http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/crim ... -1-6536635
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