Taxi driver sacked after he was captured on hidden CCTV telling a pensioner: 'You die tonight'
By Daily Mail Reporter
09th December 2009
A taxi driver has been sacked after a hidden in-car camera caught him swearing at three terrified pensioners and telling one: 'You die tonight.'
Elyas Haidari, 24, hurled abuse at the women, who were all partially sighted, and told them to 'shut up' as he took them to a day care centre.
When the pensioners tried to get out of his car, Mr Haidari, who had held a licence for seven months, refused to help them.
Mr Haidari is the first cabbie to be caught by the new 'taxicam' system employed by Southampton City Council.
He was hauled before the council's licensing committee after the women complained about his 'truly shocking' behaviour.
Council officers downloaded the footage from the camera within hours and were stunned when they heard Mr Haidari telling one passenger 'you die tonight.'
He was also heard yelling, 'shut up' during the journeys and 'get out' at the women when they reached their destination.
Councillors voted in August to make it compulsory for cameras to be fitted in all new Hackney carriages.
Mr Haidari's car was among the 150 cabs which already had a camera fitted.
Licensing committee chairman Councillor Brian Parnell said that without the camera in Mr Haidari's car, his behaviour could have gone unnoticed.
He said: 'While incidents such as this in the city are fortunately rare, it undoubtedly shows the merit of having cameras fitted to all licensed vehicles in the city.
'It is a ringing endorsement of the council's recent decision to make the fitting of cameras mandatory.'
Council licensing officers downloaded the recording from the camera within hours of the incident being reported to them.
The council praised the cooperation and response by Radio Taxis following the complaint about their driver, who was promptly dismissed.
Company chairman Clive Johnson, who has launched a legal challenge against the decision to make cameras compulsory, said: 'We were very upset and concerned about what happened.
'But we didn't need the camera evidence. We acted on the information from the statements from the three ladies.
'We supplied all the information to the police. We didn't need a camera to tell us something had gone disastrously wrong.
'We are not against cameras, we're against being forced to have them.'
The £625 cameras, which the council sells at subsidy for £250 excluding VAT and fitting, take still pictures and record continuous audio once they are triggered by a door opening.
Drivers are also able to trigger a burst of pictures if they push a panic button.
A police spokesman said an officer spoke to Mr Haidari's three passengers although no official statements were taken and they did not wish to make an official complaint.
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