Taxi Driver Online

05 Feb 2008

Taxi driver murder trial begins

TWO men have appeared in court charged with the murder of taxi driver
Mohammed Mahroof, who was stabbed in the neck last May.

The trial of Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa, 21, and Asif Ahram Mohammed,
26, began yesterday at Reading Crown Court.

In his opening statement prosecutor Christopher Donnellan told the jury
the stab wound that killed the 39-year-old Neales taxi driver, from Chiltern
Avenue, High Wycombe, had a depth of nine to ten centimetres and was
1.8 centimetres wide.

He told the court Mustafa and Mohammed had planned to rob a taxi driver
at knife point after they had failed to borrow money from friends and family.

Using the name "Ali", Mohammed called Neales on Tuesday, May 8 using a
phone box and asked to be picked up outside the Busy Bees nursery on
the Rye.

Mr Donnellan said: "He made that call as part of a plan to lure a taxi driver
to that area so that he and Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa could rob him.
Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa was armed with a kitchen knife, which he had
been given beforehand by Asif Ahram Mohammed."

He told the court Mr Mahroof, a father-of-two, was dispatched to the
pick-up and Mustafa got into the passenger side of the cab while
Mohammed stood nearby underneath a tree.

Around 15 minutes later the emergency alert inside the cab went off
signalling the driver was in trouble.

Mr Donnellan said it was not terribly clear what was said between the
driver and his passenger before the stabbing, apart from what Mustafa
told the police in subsequent interviews.

He added: "One thing is certain, within 15 minutes of the phone call
ordering the taxi the defendant Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa plunged the
blade of the kitchen knife into the left side of the neck of Mr Mahroof, just
below his ear. A fatal wound from which he died just a few minutes later."

Mr Mahroof managed to stumble out of his cab and make his way towards
Abbey Way where he was spotted covered in blood by passing motorists
who stopped to help him.

He was taken by ambulance to Wycombe Hospital but died a few minutes later.

Both defendants deny murder. The trial continues.

Source: Bucks Free Press

Related TDO Topic(s): Will it ever end?

06 Feb 2008

Taxi drivers speak of stabbing horror

COLLEAGUES of taxi driver Mohammed Mahroof have described seeing
their workmate lying in a grass verge after being fatally stabbed.

The taxi driver's shirt had turned from white to red after the attack, they
told Reading Crown Court.

The court heard from Ahmed Jahanzaib Mohammed, the operator on duty
at Neales on the day of the stabbing, and one of Mr Mahroof's colleagues,
taxi driver Anwar Rashid.

Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa, 21, and Asif Ahram Mohammed, 26, are
charged with the murder of the 39-year-old Neales taxi driver who was
stabbed in the neck after responding to a pick-up at the Rye in High
Wycombe last May.

Prosecutor Christopher Donnellan read out Mr Mohammed's statement,
which told of the call he took from a man called "Ali" asking for a pick-up
from Busy Bees nursery.

The court heard the call had been made by Mohammed from a phonebox
at 8.19pm on Tuesday, May 8.

Mr Mohammed's statement said: "Roughly 15 minutes after I sent the job
through the emergency alert flashed up on my computer screen.

"The emergency activation isn't something that can happen by accident.
Drivers have to press 9, 9 and the send button. We have a GPRS system
in all the vehicles.

"I could see the emergency from driver 81 (Mr mahroof's driver ID) was
at Busy Bees."

Mr Mohammed, along with Mr Rashid, rushed to Mr Mahroof's aid and
found his empty black Toyata Avensis parked near the nursery, still with
the lights on and engine running.

Mr Mohammed's statement added: "I could see a lot of blood on the floor
and driver's seat.

"Mr Mahroof was lying on the grass verge. When I saw him earlier he was
wearing a white shirt but now there was no white to be seen, only red."

Mr Donnellan told the jury Mustafa and Mohammed had planned to rob a
taxi driver at knife point after they had failed to borrow money from
friends and family.

Together they agreed Mustafa would carry out the robbery, armed with a
kitchen knife taken earlier from Mohammed's home in Roberts Road.

Mohammed meanwhile waited nearby underneath a tree, he said.

Mr Donnellan told the court Mustafa spent about 15 minutes building up the
courage to commit the robbery and then "without warning" swung the
knife, which was hidden up his sleeve, at Mr Mahroof intending to give him
"a little scare".

The resultant stab wound entered the left hand side of his neck just below
his ear and had a depth of nine to ten centimetres.

Mustafa ran off while Mr Mahroof managed to stumble from his cab and
walk towards Abbey Way while clutching his wounded neck.

Several motorists stopped to help him and he was rushed to Wycombe
Hospital but died shortly afterwards.

The jury also heard today from the police officers who arrested Mustafa
and Mohammed.

Both defendants deny murder. The trial continues.

Source: Bucks Free Press

07 Feb 2008

Trial hears from taxi murder suspect

THE 21-year-old who attacked taxi driver Mohammed Mahroof admitted
today he did not want to carry out the botched robbery, which led to the
cabbie's death.

Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa told Reading Crown Court he had a "gut
feeling" after getting into the 39-year-old's black Toyota Avensis outside
Busy Bees nursery last May.

In a police interview read out in court he said: "I had a gut feeling like
what am I doing? Why am I doing this?"

Mustafa and Asif Ahram Mohammed are accused of murdering Mr Mahroof,
a father-of-two from Chiltern Avenue, High Wycombe, after luring him to
the Rye in an attempt to rob him.

The court heard Mohammed came up with the plan to rob a taxi driver
while the pair were drinking Stella lager in the Rye, and he also provided
Mustafa with the serrated kitchen knife to threaten their victim with. He
hoped to get £200 to £300 from the robbery.

Mustafa told the court he did not want to go through with the plan at first
but was easily persuaded.

"I went along with it so from there he (Mohammed) went and got the knife
(from his house in Roberts Road).

"On the way back we made a phone call and told the taxi to come to a
certain area," he added.

Mohammed, using the name Ali, called Neales taxis from a phonebox in
Queen Victoria Road and asked for a pick-up outside Busy Bees. Mr
Mahroof was dispatched to the nursery as the pair made their way to meet him.

Mustafa said: "As we were walking Asif said 'I'll go this way, you go that
way - it'll be easier for you to get away' and the taxi was already parked then.

"As we were walking we separated. I went towards the taxi, he went his way."

Mohammed waited nearby under a tree while Mustafa got into the
passenger seat of the cab with the knife hidden under his arm, the court heard.

Mustafa told Mr Mahroof he needed to wait for a friend and they spent
around 15 minutes chatting about the areas of Pakistan they were from.

Mr Mahroof even lent Mustafa his mobile phone to call his "friend".

Detective Sergeant Robert Storrar, who interviewed Mustafa after he was
arrested, asked him why it took him so long for him to commit the robbery.

"Because I didn't want to do it," he replied, "But in the other way I can't
say I was forced to do it."

During one of his interviews Mustafa admitted he had intended to strike Mr
Mahroof when he swung the knife out "without warning" from behind his
arm, but only to threaten him.

As he did so he demanded cash from Mr Mahroof saying: "Give me the
money, I want the money."

He intended to strike the driver in the arm but instead the knife plunged
into the left hand side of his neck just below his ear.

Mustafa said: "I wasn't meant to do it hard, I only just meant to give him a
little mark so he knows I'm not playing about."

Mustafa bolted from the cab after Mr Mahroof managed to scramble out of
the car clutching his wounded neck. As he took off across the Rye he
dumped his jacket in the woods.

Mr Mahroof managed to stagger towards Abbey Way before collapsing on
the grass verge. He was rushed to Wycombe Hospital but died shortly afterwards.

Both defendants deny murder. The trial continues.

Source: Bucks Free Press

08 Feb 2008

Taxi murder trial witness: "I thought it was a prank"

A DENTIST who rushed to taxi driver Mohammed Mahroof's aid thought he
was witnessing a university prank - after spotting his blood-soaked figure
stumbling towards the road, a murder trial was told.

Mr Mahroof was lured to The Rye in High Wycombe last May, by two men
posing as customers. They had planned to rob him and later stabbed him
with a serrated kitchen knife Reading Crown Court heard.

The dentist, Daljit Singh Sohal was working in High Wycombe on Tuesday,
May 8 last year and was driving home via Abbey Way when he saw Mr
Mahroof staggering and clutching his neck.

Mr Sohal told the court how he first thought Mr Mahroof was covered in red
paint as part of a university stunt.

"When I went closer I noticed it was actually real. I saw blood and that's
when the alarm bells rang," he added.

At first glance Mr Sohal thought he could see the knife handle still
protruding from Mr Mahroof's neck, but told the court he could not
"guarantee" this as he had seen it from a distance.

He pulled over and ran to where Mr Mahroof had fallen.

He said: "As I was running I took off my jacket. That was quite stiff so I
took my jumper off and rolled that up. I saw the blood pouring from his
neck and just put pressure on. It was actually spurting quite a distance."

He added: "He was still conscious and looking up and grabbing hold of me.

"He was alert enough but just couldn't bring any words up because he was
bleeding everywhere."

The knife was later recovered after it was spotted lying close to Mr
Mahroof.

Several other motorists pulled over to help including members of St John
Ambulance who had just attended a meeting.

One of them, John Leeser, tried to administer oxygen to Mr Mahroof using
a bag and mask before ambulance crews arrived to take over.

He was taken to Wycombe Hospital just yards away but died a few
minutes later.

Source: Bucks Free Press

08 Feb 2008

Defendant denies taxi driver murder

ONE of the co-defendants in a murder trial told police he did not know the
man who stabbed taxi driver Mohammed Mahroof.

In a police interview read out at Reading Crown Court today, Asif Ahram
Mohammed, 26, denied all knowledge of the incident and claimed he did
not even know co-defendant Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa.

Police informed Mustafa: "He (Mohammed) is saying he doesn't know who
you are. He's never heard of you."

But Mustafa, 21, said he would be able to tell police Mohammed's name,
where he lived and what he was wearing on the evening of the incident.

He told police there should be CCTV footage of the pair of them walking
through High Wycombe town centre on their way to the Rye, where they
planned to rob a taxi driver at knifepoint.

Mustafa admitted he had planned to carry out the robbery, but denied he
had planned to kill driver Mohammed Mahroof, a father-of-two from
Chiltern Avenue, High Wycombe.

In a police interview read out in court today, Mustafa said: "I felt like I
needed to do more than threaten him. I was going to show him the knife
and give him a little cut on the arm and say, I'm not playing around'.

"I was concerned he might have got the knife off me and twisted it around
on me. I didn't know what would happen."

Mustafa said he wasn't facing his victim when he swung the knife at him,
and added the taxi driver had moved from where he thought he was sitting.

"It was a robbery that went wrong," he told police. "It would only be one
wound. There was no intention of killing, we just wanted money. I never
intended to kill him or cause him serious injury."

Mustafa said Mohammed was standing nearby during the botched robbery,
but the pair went their separate ways following the incident.

Mr Mahroof died on his way to Wycombe Hospital from a nine-to-ten
centimetre stab wound to the neck on May 8 last year.

Both defendants deny murder. The trial continues.

Source: Bucks Free Press

13 Feb 2008

"Moderate degree of force" killed taxi driver

THE POST-MORTEM into the death of taxi driver Mohammed Mahroof
showed the force needed to cause his fatal injuries were equivalent to
"knocking a nail into a piece of wood", a court heard yesterday.

Home Office pathologist Doctor Nicholas Hunt said the injuries that
39-year-old Mr Mahroof sustained were not consistent with those
suggested by the man who killed him.

Doctor Hunt told Reading Crown Court the knife's entry point was at a 20
degree angle and downward pressure had been applied.

He said: "A moderate degree of force or more would be necessary to
cause that wound. There is nothing to suggest there was a severe degree
of force."

The wound severed the carotid vein in Mr Mahroof's neck which Dr Hunt
said was what caused his death.

He said: "You are in grave danger of dying as a consequence of the
bleeding and the loss of blood pressure. It is a very grave injury."

Doctor Hunt added the injuries caused were consistent with those that
could be caused by the serrated knife found at the scene, just outside
Busy Bees nursery in High Wycombe.

The knife itself came from the home of co-defendent Asif Ahram
Mohammed, 26, of Roberts Road, High Wycombe.

Yesterday Mohammed's co-defendent Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa, 21,
admitted to the jury he did kill the taxi driver but had intended to only use
the knife to threaten whoever they planned to rob.

At the time the pair got the knife there had been no conversation to decide
who precisely they would rob, Mustafa told the court. He said he asked
Mohammed why he had got the knife, who replied: "We are going to use it
to threaten someone."

Both men deny murder. The trial continues.

Source: Bucks Free Press

Nowhere more than TDO do these incidents get highlighted and still the powers that be namely licensing authorities refuse Taxi drivers some of the basic means by which to protect themselves. In-car CCTV is recognised as one of the main basic deterrents and yet councillors in many local authorities steadfastly refuse to allow Taxi drivers to install this basic safety mechanism. In the main, the excuse given for not allowing installation of CCTV equipment is their concern for public privacy.

I think it is about time that the DfT recognised the fact that taxi drivers also have basic rights and that the most fundamental right of all is the right to life. In order to sustain that basic right those in danger must be protected and if those entrusted with the administrative duty of overseeing licensing laws fail to assist in that protection and instead take a proactive stance in refusing such basic safety measures then the Government of the day must act to rectify that failing.

I therefore implore the DfT on behalf of all UK Taxi drivers of every shape and size to act accordingly and implement measures that will nullify the actions of those councillors who refuse to allow the installation of CCTV equipment.

DfT best practice guidance on this issue has failed and it is now time for more affirmative action before any more Taxi drivers prematurely end up in a six foot pine box.

It would be nice to think that my comments haven't fallen on deaf ears.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

13 Feb 2008

Man accused of taxi driver murder admits lying to police

ONE of the men accused of killing taxi driver Mohammed Mahroof admitted
today that he lied to police about his involvement in the incident.

The news came as the family of Mr Mahroof, who died last May, released
another photograph of him.

Asif Ahram Mohammed, 26, initially told police he did not even know his
co-defendant Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa, 21, and had played no part in
the conspiracy to rob a taxi driver.

However, after several days of interviews he changed his story but said
his part in the robbery was limited to supplying the knife used and to
make the phone call that lured Mr Mahroof to Rye Park, where the robbery
was carried out.

Asked why he had lied, Mohammed told Reading Crown Court today: "I
was frightened. I was just trying to buy some time and limit the damage."

He said the robbery had been Mustafa's idea and that it had also been his
idea to use a knife.

He told the court: "Mustafa said we need to make some money by robbing
someone as we were approaching the subway. It didn't enter my head
that he was being serious.

"He was telling me that we need a knife. There was an empty bottle of
vodka which he smashed. He said we need something a bit bigger than this."

Mohammed, who had consumed half a bottle of vodka and several cans of
Stella throughout the day, said Mustafa appeared big-headed and told him
he had committed this sort of crime several times before.

He said: "I thought he knows what he's doing. He's going to take the knife
out, show them it, scare them and take the money."

Asked whether he thought Mustafa would actually use the knife during the
robbery Mohammed replied: "I never would have thought in a million
years he would have used the knife. I didn't think he was that kind of person."

The two men decided to rob a taxi from Neale's Cabs - a company
Mohammed previously worked for. He admitted that both men had
conspired to commit the robbery but added he did not know Mr Mahroof
had been killed during the incident.

He said: "I assumed he took the money off the person and had left me in
the lurch and run off with the money."

He added that when he heard of Mr Mahroof's death his head was "all over
the place."

Both men deny murder. The trial continues.

Source: Bucks Free Press

13 Feb 2008

Accused just released from prison

THE MAN who stabbed taxidriver Mohammed Mahroof had been released
from prison just four days beforehand, a court heard today.

Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa, 21 had been released on licence after
serving a sentence for attempted robbery.

His licence terms said he should have been staying at a hostel in Straight
Road, Windsor, and he breached those terms after staying at his brother's
house the previous night.

Reading Crown Court heard that earlier in the day of the robbery, May 8
last year, Mustafa had been to a barbers to get his hair cut and had run
away after hearing the police were on their way to arrest him for being in
breach of his licence conditions.

Mustafa also told the court the plan to rob a taxi driver was made along
with his co-defendant Asif Ahram Mohammed, 26, in Rye park in High Wycombe.

Mustafa said he was feeling "big headed" and "confident" about carrying
out the robbery after he and Mohammed had been drinking in the park.

The pair of them agreed to get a knife to use in the robbery from
Mohammed's house in Roberts Road, with a discussion taking place on
their way there as to who would threaten someone with the knife.

It was on the way back to the Rye they decided to rob a taxidriver as
Mohammed suggested they would be able to steal between three and four hundred pounds.

Mustafa said: "We were talking about what we were going to do but not
who was going to do it. I was being big headed and said I would do it."

Mustafa agreed to carry the knife in his jeans pocket even though the
journey from Roberts Road to the Rye would take him past High Wycombe
police station. He and Mohammed made no effort to find an alternative route.

Mustafa said the knife was only to be used to threaten their victim and the
whole incident was "a robbery that went wrong".

He said Mohammed's role in the incident was to act as a lookout while the
robbery was committed.

Mustafa later called the police to hand himself in. During his 999 call he
said: "I want to confess to another crime."

Police arrested him on suspicion of murder. When he heard what he was
being charged with Mustafa said: "Did he die? Is it a murder charge now?"

Both men deny murder. The trial continues.

Source: Bucks Free Press

_________________
IDFIMH

Removed by allo allo and moved to CCTV thread in Licensing and Legal

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Our safety is Paramount

14 Feb 2008

Taxi murder trial: jury to be sent out

THE jury in the trial of the men accused of murdering Mohammed Mahroof
are set to retire and consider their verdict tomorrow morning.

Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa and Asif Ahram Mohammed are charged with
the murder of 39-year-old taxi driver Mohammed Mahroof, who was killed by
a single stab wound to the neck on May 8 last year.

The five male and seven female jurors are set to be sent out to consider their
verdict tomorrow following a nine-day trial at Reading Crown Court.

Mustafa and Mohammed both deny the charge.

Source: Bucks Free Press

15 Feb 2008

Jury out in taxi driver death trial

THE jury in the trial of two men accused of killing taxi driver Mohammed
Mahroof has retired to consider its verdict.

Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa, 21, and Asif Ahram Mohammed, 26, deny murder.

Mr Mahroof, a 39-year-old father of two, died from a single stab wound to
the neck after being attacked outside Rye Park in High Wycombe on May 8 last year.

The five male and seven female jurors at Reading Crown Court were sent
away to consider their verdicts on both men shortly after 10am this
morning, following a nine-day trial.

Mustafa and Mohammed deny the charges.

Source: Bucks Free Press

Man found guilty of taxi driver murder


THE killer of taxi driver Mohammed Mahroof has been told he could go to prison for life after being found guilty of murder today. The jury at Reading Crown Court took five hours and 17 minutes to unanimously find Mohammed Mahroof Mustafa, 21, guilty of murder.

His co-defendant Asif Ahram Mohammed, 26, was cleared of murder but was found guilty of manslaughter as the jury were satisfied that Mustafa could have used the knife that killed Mr Mahroof to cause serious harm instead.

Mustafa killed Mr Mahroof with a single stab wound in the neck at the Rye park, High Wycombe, on May 8 last year in a botched robbery attempt. Mohammed was sentenced to manslaughter as he had got the knife used in the robbery from his home in Roberts Road.

Mustafa will be sentenced on Tuesday next week with Judge Christopher Tyrer, who told him. "I have not had an opportunity to reflect on what sentence I will pass. I have to consider the minimum term you will serve." He added the maximum term for the offence was life imprisonment.

Mohammed will be sentenced at a later date once reports to assess his dangerousness have been compiled. Both men had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob.

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IDFIMH