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Demo at Penton Street Well, no one can say that September was ordinary! One subject involving London taxis made front page news around the world – the battle by our trade to stop minicab driver Shamsul Haque going on the Knowledge. The story is well known by now. Mr Haque was found guilty of manslaughter in 2000 when he killed his wife. The 38-year-old paranoid schizophrenic, strangled her and later admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He was sentenced to indefinite detention under the Mental Health Act in January 2001, but was released in 2003. Earlier this year he was also cautioned by police for assaulting his daughter. As LCDC Chairman Grant Davis said on the radio on the morning of the Penton Street demo to LBC’s Nick Ferrari, would he (Nick) feel happy knowing his wife or daughter was travelling in the same vehicle as someone who had killed their wife? For such a talented broadcaster, Nick’s answer that he had neither, was to put it mildly, very disappointing. However, Grant’s point had been well made and many LBC listeners must have then asked themselves the same question. According to Jeroen Weimar, TfL’s chief operating officer (Enforcement and Compliance), they had five to six years of independent medical advice saying this man was no danger to the community and a fit and proper to be a taxi driver or a minicab driver. But would Mr Weimer feel happy knowing his wife or daughter was travelling in the same vehicle as someone who had killed his wife and assaulted his own daughter? We asked Mr Weimar that question, but TfL considered it to be unfair to bring his personal life into the equation. However, Mr Weimar issued a statement to Call Sign. It said: "I fully recognise this is an issue of public concern and passenger safety is always our first priority. This case highlights the stringent checks we have in place when we make decisions on licence or knowledge applications and reassures me that we still have and will continue to have the safest taxi trade in the world." Then there is Paul Correy, a spokesman for Rethink, the mental health charity. He said that the chances of Haque being a danger to passengers were "very, very slim." But will he take responsibility if Mr Haque were to re-offend? Well let’s look at someone who did re-offend… Close on the heels of this case, we had that of an enquiry into the case of Peter Bryan and why he was ever released. He too was schizophrenic and just one year older than Shamsul Haque. He too was also released from captivity – in his case a secure mental hospital. The biggest difference was that Bryan didn’t want to go on the Knowledge of London – in fact he couldn’t because he is now safely locked up once again. You may have read about Peter Bryan. In 1993, he was sent to Rampton secure hospital in Nottingham after killing a shop |
 assistant with a hammer. In 2001, it was agreed by a mental health tribunal that he was no longer a danger to the community (can’t think where I’ve heard that before), but two years after his release he was moved into an open ward of a mental health unit after sexually assaulting a 17-year old girl. As it was an open ward, Mr Bryan walked out and killed a friend of his, Brian Cherry. He then ate part of Mr Cherry’s brain after first frying it. He had also begun to dismember the remains. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he was locked up again – this time in Broadmoor - where he took a dislike to a fellow patient and after just 10 days there, attacked him. The other patient later died from his head injuries and Bryan was given a life sentence. Now two enquiries into Mr Bryan suggest that it was the fault of "NHS failures." We all hope that Shamsul Haque no longer forgets to take his medication and that he can take his place as a member of society – but not as a licensed taxi driver. We’ve had a rapist besmirching our name this year already; we don’t need someone who killed his wife as well. As the Evening Standard Editorial page put it when the news broke; Keep Black Cabs Safe. What I’d like to know is just who at the PCO thought that someone with Mr Haque’s record should be able to go onto the Knowledge – especially as it is common knowledge that the examiners were all against it? And whoever’s decision to allow him to continue it was, I think they should carefully consider whether they are the right person to hold their high position at the PCO…
Bain & Co |
asked me to film a piece about my early
memories of the account. I got so carried away, that the filming at the back
of John Adam Street continued for over an hour, with passers-by wondering
just who I was with that camera and boom microphone pointed at me! BBC Radio Scotland is the place I do my relatively few interviews, unless you go back to the early days of satellite TV and my occasional piece on the ill-fated Live! TV channel as wrestling’s Mr X! Neither was anywhere near as enjoyable as my long chat with Zulema Quintans. We still service Bain & Co, who are now in the Strand, but it will never compare to those heady days in Fitzhardinge Street. And yes, they paid me well for the filming – just like the old days! So a very happy thirtieth anniversary to Bain & Co…
M4 bus / taxi lane Different… but the same? Alan Fisher |
