Gridlock protest over wife killer

Source: Times Online  Read Original Story to view Comments

Hundreds of cab drivers have blockaded the streets of North London in protest at a killer who is being allowed to study to drive a black cab.

The taxi drivers have caused gridlock around Islington in a mass “go slow” gathering to express their outrage at the decision to allow the man to take “the Knowledge” – the black cab exam.

The 38-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, strangled his wife in 2000 and was jailed for manslaughter in 2001. A paranoid schizophrenic, the man was sentenced to indefinite detention under the Mental Health Act in January 2001 but was released in October 2003.

He was also cautioned by police for assault less than three months ago.

The Public Carriage Office (PCO) is allowing him to undertake examinations after Transport for London gave him a private minicab licence. It has emerged that he is already driving for one of the capital’s private hire firms.

The man’s initial application for a minicab licence was rejected by TfL because it was made within the three years after he was released from detention.

However he applied again and was accepted by the transport body because his conviction was spent and he had convinced doctors that his condition was under control.

Cab drivers gathered in protest outside the PCO, on Pentonville Road, around lunchtime. They have brought traffic to a standstill in the area and there is congestion on roads leading to Kings Cross train station.

In the “go slow” initiative, drivers drove slowly past the PCO and honked their horns.

The London Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) said that up to 6,000 drivers had attended the protest however the Metropolitan Police said that the numbers were much lower.

A spokesman for the Met said that the congestion was expected to continue until 6pm. He said that traffic officers had the situation “under control”.

Steve McNamara, from the LTDA, said it was “outrageous” that a convicted killer should be allowed to operate as a driver.

He called on the PCO to review its decision to allow the driver to take the Knowledge.

TfL has defended its stance and said the driver’s employer, the private taxi firm, had “some very clear safeguards in place”.

Jeroen Weimar, chief operating officer at TfL, said: “We have got five to six years of independent medical advice saying this man is no danger to the community and fit and proper to be a taxi driver or a minicab driver.”

The final decision for the black cab exam is left to the Public Carriage Office.

The gridlocking tactic has been used before by cab drivers to cause chaos on the streets of the capital.

In February, hundreds of drivers blockaded Central London, including key sites such as Trafalgar Square and Downing Street, to show their anger at a new scheme they claimed enabled the encroachment of minicabs on to their turf.

In July, they threatened to cause gridlock around Heathrow Airport when its owner, BAA, struck a deal to allow a minicab company to pick up passengers. BAA backed away from the deal after the threat.