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Cabbie dies after street attack
By John Howe
Police are continuing to question a youth today after a 72-year-old cabbie died after a street attack.
A major inquiry was launched after taxi driver Raymond Quigley, believed to be just two weeks away from retirement, was found injured in the road at Beechbrooke, Ryhope.
It is understood Mr Quigley had driven his cab from the centre of Newcastle to the village in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Police say Mr Quigley, of Nursery Lane, Gateshead, was then attacked at 3.30am and died in Sunderland Royal Hospital, an hour later.
A 17-year-old youth was being questioned about the incident, as forensic officers combed the black VW cab, abandoned in the middle of Waterworks Road.
Police cordoned off the flats on the estate, built on the site of the former Ryhope Comprehensive School, as officers carried out house-to-house inquiries.
Traffic heading into neighbouring Cherry Knowle Hospital was diverted as police searched for clues.
Detective Chief Inspector Mick Paterson, leading the investigation, said: "I am interested in hearing from anyone who may have been in Beechbrooke and the surrounding area of Ryhope at around 3.30am yesterday."
One Beechbrooke neighbour, a woman in her 50s, said: "We are all really shocked about something like this happening on your doorstep. We couldn't get out of the estate because the police had sealed it off and I had to get a taxi to get where I was going, because I couldn't get the car out.
"People are absolutely stunned. It's such a lovely estate and this is terrible news, we just don't know how it has happened."
A man, also in his 50s, revealed that forensic teams had been working on a cab, left in Waterworks Road, before it was later removed by police for further examination.
"You get the odd yobbo around here," the man said. "but they are mainly around the shops. We have never had anything like this before."
Another resident, a woman in her 30s, who has lived on the estate for four years, said: "I heard the police helicopter at 3am and the next thing we knew when we came out was all this.
"It's quiet around here, there is never any bother."
The self-employed driver, according to colleagues, was on the verge of quitting taxi driving trade after selling his business.
Superintendent Kay Blyth, of Sunderland Area Command, said this was an isolated incident in what is usually a quiet area of the city.
The tragedy comes a week after the Echo revealed that spy-cams are to be fitted in 349 hackney cabs across Wearside to make drivers jobs safer.
A post-mortem examination was carried out yesterday, but the cause of death is still unknown. More tests are to be made.
It is the fifth killing on Wearside in four months.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact police in Sunderland tel: 08456 043 043 and ask for the incident room at Farringdon Hall police station.
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"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO
TF pi$$ed on his chips.
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