Taxi Driver Online

Woober taxi boss jailed after dealing drugs in Worcester

A TAXI driver turned drug dealer has been jailed. Choudary Hussain, who helped set up the Woober taxi service in Worcester, was caught with cocaine and cash from dealing in the city’s Barbourne area.

The 37-year-old of Lansdowne Road, Worcester admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday. Wearing a grey suit, the defendant was carrying a large suitcase which was so big he struggled to get it down the steps into the cells after he was jailed.

Hussain received a series of character references which were presented to the judge, including from the former mayor of Worcester, Cllr Jabba Riaz.

Hussain was discovered with 75g of cocaine with a street value of between £3,000 and £7,500. He was also found with £510 in cash on him while a further £119 was recovered from his Mercedes. The court heard how Hussain pleaded not guilty last July before he changed his plea to guilty on March 5 this year.

Tariq Shakoor, prosecuting, said police had received a ‘tip off’ about a suspicious vehicle (a VW Golf) parked in Barbourne and decided to ‘keep an eye on it’ in April 2018. The defendant ran away when challenged by the police but was detained and found with the sets of keys to two cars – a Mercedes and a VW Golf which contained the drugs.

Phones were also recovered, one of which contained ‘drug dealing text messages’ and suggested he had been dealing for about two months. He was arrested, maintaining his denial and submitting a prepared statement.

The court heard that Hussain had previous convictions, one of which led to a 10-year prison sentence, but none for drugs offences.

Martin Liddiard, defending, said Hussain had a letter written on his his behalf by the former mayor of Worcester, Cllr Jabba Riaz which was read by the judge before sentence. Mr Liddiard said the defendant’s father had suffered a heart attack two days before the court hearing and that Hussain was supported in the public gallery by his brother-in-law.

The advocate said Hussain had established Woober in Sansome Walk, just behind the same court where he was later jailed, a firm which had taken NHS staff to work during the coronavirus pandemic. However, Hussain had ended up ‘borrowing money from the wrong people’.

Mr Liddiard said other people worked for the company and, while he could not say the company would fail if Hussain was not there to run it, he was the only person who was ‘available 24 hours a day’. Character references praised his ‘good character’ and said he operated ‘with integrity’, the court heard.

Judge James Burbidge QC, the Recorder of Worcester, told Hussain drugs offences were ‘always serious’, adding: “It destroys people’s lives and destroys communities. You were doing this solely for money. Because you had borrowed to start the business, there was pressure placed upon you to repay that. That is so often how these crimes engage people.”

The judge weighed this against the fact that Hussain had done charitable work, had a reference from a former mayor of Worcester and had created a ‘viable, honest business’.

He accepted that there had been a delay to the case and the charging process took ‘some considerable time’ because police had to look into evidence, including mobile phones. However, he also said the reason for this delay was Hussain ‘lying to the court at the plea and trial preparation hearing as well as in interview to police’.

Hussain was jailed for two years and four months. A proceeds of crime application was also drawn up in which the defendant must provide a statement of his means and assets by July 22 this year.

The case was listed for a directions hearing on October 7 this year.

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IDFIMH

Definitely a fit and proper person.I think not.

It would be interesting, and disturbing, to find out if the chap had a license, even an ops license, given his previous 10 year sentence.

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IDFIMH

Maybe I missed something but I did not see anything in that article which said he was licensed as a driver just that he helped set the business up

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

First 3 words in article.

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IDFIMH

I did say the word "licensed" just because the gutter press said he was a taxi driver doesn't mean he was legit

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Ooft - I 'did an Edders' and missed that line when I read the piece - arguably the most important line in the article:


And I wonder what the crime in question was?


According to Google the article is on at least two websites - the Redditch Advertiser and Worcester News. What evidence suggests they're part of the gutter press?

Unless there's evidence to the contrary I'd say it's better just to assume that the individual is (or was) a licensed taxi driver. (Quite possibly private hire, but we've been through that particular old chestnut a million times.)