A driver who posed as a cabbie touting for fares in Birmingham city centre has narrowly avoided a prison term after being caught during a West Midlands Police operation to protect taxi passengers.
Babu Elahi, from Bevington Road in Aston, was spotted by police in Broad Street in the early hours of Saturday 17 October in a VW Passat liveried with door stickers and bumper plates suggesting it was a licensed private hire vehicle.
Officers suspecting he may be illegally ‘plying’ for business at the roadside − as all private taxis must be booked in advance − moved in to speak to the Elahi as he drove off with two rear seat passengers.
But as the 53-year-old was driving to a checkpoint near the National Indoor Arena he sped away from his police biker chaperone, drove through ‘no entry’ signs, and tore through back streets at well over the speed limit.
Elahi eventually pulled over outside Ladywood Police Station where officers grabbed keys from the ignition.
He maintained the pretence − suggesting his taxi ID badge was at home − but checks on police databases showed his Passat was not registered as a private hire car and the council taxi plate actually belonged to his brother.
In interview, unemployed Elahi claimed he’d only ever driven a friend into Broad Street once − but when officers examined results from Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras it proved his Passat regularly cruised Broad Street on weekend evenings.
And at Birmingham Crown Court on March 3 he admitted dangerous driving, fraud by false representation, and driving without the relevant insurance.
He was given a four-year jail term, suspended for two years, ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the community, and banned from driving for 12 months.
PC Dave Humpherson leads campaign − codenamed Operation Amethyst − that sees a team of specially trained officers going undercover to pose as customers on the lookout for drivers breaking the rules.
Last year, up to 100 drivers were prosecuted and banned from the roads or given six penalty points…with fines approaching £2,000!
Dave said: “Most taxi drivers operate legally and are earning an honest living − but there are people falsely purporting to be taxi drivers in the hope of making some extra cash. And if anything untoward should happen it can be challenging to trace offenders as there’s no audit trail and no booking details or phone numbers to follow up.
“Passengers accepting lifts from private hire drivers plying for business aren’t insured in the event of being injured in an accident; only Hackney Carriage vehicles can take on-street fares and passengers can leave themselves vulnerable at the hands of bogus cabbies.
“As soon as people set foot in un-booked vehicles and take the journey, the insurance is nullified − and there are also some awful examples of people being overcharged. One of the worst I’ve seen was a man charged £25 for a two mile journey."
Operation Amethyst runs predominantly in popular entertainment spots − magnets for dodgy drivers looking to take advantage of partygoers − and sees officers joined by council licensing officials and HMRC vehicle inspectors.
Offenders face being hauled before council Licensing Committees and having their taxi licenses revoked.
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