The government has insisted it is working to improve the quality of hospital food in England.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that "buying standards" would improve, prompting "better nutrition for patients".
Food served in NHS hospitals has come in for criticism, with campaigners arguing that salt and fat levels are too high.
There are also concerns some patients are receiving too little nourishment.
The Sun newspaper has launched a campaign calling for minimum dietary standards on wards.
'Personalised'
Mr Lansley told the Andrew Marr Show that, from 2001 to 2010, when Labour was in power, the "number of patients leaving hospital malnourished went up", adding: "It shouldn't happen."
He said: "I accept we need to ensure, and we are increasingly going to ensure, that patients who are in hospital get the right nutrition. To some extent it's personalised, because what you need as a patient in terms of your diet often is very personal."
He added that the Department of Health was working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs "on a range of projects to demonstrate precisely how the buying standards in hospitals can be used in order to deliver better nutrition for patients".
More than one in 10 patients rated hospital food as poor, according to an official survey of more than 60,000 NHS patients in England published last December.
A "small minority" of Pakistani men see white girls as "fair game", Baroness Warsi has said.
It is important to "speak out" and acknowledge the problem in order to tackle it, she added.
Lady Warsi, the daughter of Pakistani immigrants, is co-chair of the Conservative party.
Her comments follow the jailing of nine men, eight of whom were of Pakistani origin, in Rochdale for sexually abusing young girls.
Speaking to the London Evening Standard, Lady Warsi said: "There is a small minority of Pakistani men who believe that white girls are fair game.
"And we have to be prepared to say that. You can only start solving a problem if you acknowledge it first.
"This small minority who see women as second class citizens, and white women probably as third class citizens, are to be spoken out against."
'Truly dreadful'
Earlier in May, a group of Rochdale men were found guilty of a number of offences including including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, after exploiting vulnerable girls as young as 13.
David Cameron has described the case as "truly, truly dreadful".
Following the trial, Greater Manchester Police (GMP), which led the investigation, played down suggestions there was a racial element to the case.
GMP Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood said: "It just happens that in this particular area and time, the demographics were that these were Asian men."
And head of the Crown Prosecution Service in the North West, Nazir Afzal, said it was wrong to put race at the centre of the case.
But Baroness Warsi said she had decided to speak out after her father urged her to "show leadership" on the controversial issue.
She said it was important for communities to take responsibility for condemning this kind of behaviour.
"In mosque after mosque, this should be raised as an issue so that anybody remotely involved should start to feel that the community is turning on them,"
"Communities have a responsibility to stand up and say, 'This is wrong, this will not be tolerated'", she added.
A spokesman for the Conservative Party said Baroness Warsi's comments spoke for themselves and they did not want to elaborate on them.
'Easy meat'
BNP leader Nick Griffin, who is also an MEP for the area, has called for a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Rochdale case.
He said his party's supporters had demonstrated throughout the trial to draw attention to the issues it raised.
Lady Warsi echoes comments made by Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk who said it would be "daft" to ignore a "race element" to the case.
Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said it was "fatuous" to deny racial and cultural factors.
But Labour MP and chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee Keith Vaz has said it is wrong to focus on a particular racial or religious group.
"There is no excuse for this kind of criminality, whoever is involved in it but I don't think it is a particular group of people, I don't think it's a particular race or religion," he said.
Last year former home secretary Jack Straw caused controversy when speaking about a similar case of abuse in Derby.
Mr Straw suggested some men of Pakistani origin see white girls as "easy meat".
"There is a specific problem which involves Pakistani heritage men... who target vulnerable young white girls", he said.
Meanwhile, Samantha Roberts, a rape victim who has waived her right to anonymity, has written to David Cameron asking for a parliamentary inquiry into child exploitation.
Ms Roberts was attacked by 39-year-old Shakil Chowdhury and three other men in 2006 at the age of 12. He was later sentenced to six years in jail, but her other attackers have not been caught.
She told her local paper the Oldham Chronicle: "It's ridiculous that it has to take five girls, as in this case, for people to take notice.
"People have now realised that things like this do go on in places like Oldham and Rochdale. There are cultural problems."
Since the conviction of the nine men, further arrests have been made in a second sexual grooming inquiry in Rochdale.
some people feel that way , watch the news below, happening a lot in Britain ASian abuse of English children by a supposid god fearing people or should people fear their God
A Carlisle takeaway boss has been jailed for 15 years for attempting to recruit four girls aged between 12 and 16 into prostitution.
Azad Miah, 44, was also found guilty of running a brothel from his business and paying two teenagers for sex.
The married father-of-two was owner of the former Spice of India restaurant.
Judge Peter Hughes, QC, said the case at Carlisle Crown Court showed "the seedier side" of UK towns and called for more protection for children.
Miah was cleared of child prostitution allegations relating to two other girls.
Det Insp Geoff Huddlestone of Cumbria Police, said Miah had got the sentence he deserved and that he had "committed heinous crimes".
'Cold and clinical'
The hearing heard that one girl was encouraged to have sex with him out of desperation for cash when she was 15, while he had a sexual relationship with the other, a heroin addict, when she was aged between 15 and 17.
The jury also heard that the Bangladeshi national had targeted "desperate and vulnerable" victims and treated them in a "cold and clinical way".
You sought to draw them into a life of drug dependency and sleazy sex for money”
Judge Peter Hughes, QCCarlisle Crown Court
Passing sentence, Judge Hughes said: "This case reveals the seedier side of life in our town and city centres and what can happen to vulnerable and immature girls.
"There are lessons from this case for all of us to learn. There are lessons for parents to learn whose responsibility it is to protect their children.
"There are lessons for those responsible for safeguarding vulnerable teenagers from deprived backgrounds and without appropriate parental care and guidance."
The court also heard the 12-year-old girl had complained to police three times about Miah persistently harassing her in 2008, three years before his arrest.
She said she eventually gave up complaining because nothing was done, although Miah's legal team said there was no official record of her complaints.
'Corrodes decency'
Judge Hughes added: "There are lessons to be learnt by the police to be ever vigilant to detect signs of the possible exploitation and abuse of vulnerable people, and to take seriously what they say however chaotic and difficult their lives may be.
"A sad feature of this case is that there were a number of occasions when witnesses complained to police or community support officers about the defendant pestering them but their complaints were not taken further.
"As a result, opportunities were missed."
He also said that Miah had targeted his victims because of their troubled lives.
Judge Hughes said: "Over a number of years, behind the veil of a seemingly respectable business, you preyed on the immaturity and vulnerability of young girls from troubled and chaotic home backgrounds.
"You sought to draw them into a life of drug dependency and sleazy sex for money. When you did not desire their sexual services for yourself you made them available to others.
"Your conduct corrodes the foundations of decency and respect by which all right-thinking people live their lives whatever their ethnic or religious background."
Businessmen both at centre of serious investigationsBusinessmen both at centre of serious investigations Friday, December 05,
2008, 07:05
HIGH-profile businessmen John Preece and John Kingdom have
both been at the centre of serious investigations it emerged as the pair came
face to face during a dramatic fourth day in the High Court.
Bespoke
tailor Mr Kingdom was involved in an investigation about a theft allegation at a
Masonic Lodge and Taxifast tycoon Mr Preece was probed about payments to an
unnamed Plymouth City Councillor, the hearing, in Bristol, heard.
And, as
Mr Kingdom corss-examined Mr Preece for a whole day in the civil hearing, it
emerged both men suspected each other of initiating the
investigations.
Mr Kingdom, boss of Stitches Tailoring, also accused Mr
Preece of being ‘envious’ of his lifestyle, and said the end of their 20-year
friendship had felt like ‘a divorce’.
Mr Preece denied there had been
such a friendship and also a raft of accusations put by Mr Kingdom.
The
Taxifast chairman repeatedly claimed the cross-examination to be a ‘fishing
expedition’ and called Mr Kingdom a ‘poisonous Walter Mitty’.
Key Cabs,
which trades as Taxifast, is suing Mr Kingdom, and ex-Taxifast employees Phil
Manning and Dean Ruffles for conspiracy to injure and harassment. It alleges
they conspired to make phone calls to event management firm Expotel which
damaged a major business deal it was working on with Key Cabs’ Taxibank
operation.
Taxifast also claims the defendants told Plymouth private hire
drivers it was in financial trouble and published damaging newsletters
containing allegations about the firm’s finance and Mr Preece’s private
life.
The three defendants, who are representing themselves at the
Chancery Division hearing in Bristol, admit they wrote the newsletters but deny
circulating them. They deny the other allegations but are also claiming
Taxifast’s finances are not as healthy as the firm had said.
On the third
day, the trial had heard how there is an on-going probe by Her Majesty’s Revenue
and Customs into tax matters relating to Mr Preece.
But it also emerged
the man ‘responsible’ for the investigation being called was Mr
Kingdom.
As the trial took another dramatic twist, Mr Kingdom yesterday
asked Mr Preece about whether he had spoken to Mr Ruffles about an investigation
at the Mount Edgecumbe Masonic Hall where Mr Kingdom had been a bar manager, and
an allegation of theft.
Mr Preece said: “I really don’t know.”
But
then said: “You are out of your lodge, you are no longer a member of that
lodge.”
Mr Kingdom asked: “Have you sent information to another lodge
member?”
Mr Preece replied: “I am not a free mason, I have never wanted
to be a free mason.”
Mr Kingdom asked if he had supplied information
about court cases Mr Kingdom had been involved with, and Mr Preece said:
“No.”
“Are you saying your company and you have never supplied any
information?” asked Mr Kingdom.
“I can only talk about me and I have
never supplied any information,” Mr Preece answered.
Mr Kingdom then
produced a letter from the Masonic hall’s trustees which he said proved his
‘integrity’.
He asked Mr Preece if he had been behind a customs
investigation into a rival Plymouth taxi firm, for ‘selling tobacco and red
diesel’.
Mr Preece said he had not.
The taxi mogul was also
questioned about an allegation that he had ‘bribed’ a Plymouth City Councillor
and was quizzed by police.
“The allegation was that I had given the money
to get contracts for myself,” said Mr Preece. “The police said there was no
reason to be concerned, they wanted to clear up certain allegations.”
He
explained his firm had carried out a transport survey, and admitted trying to
get ‘a question about taxi buses in there’ but stressed: “That’s not
bribing.”
He added: “They just wanted to know if I lent money to someone,
as I do to a lot of people.”
Mr Kingdom asked if a company cheque had
been paid to a woman, who then wrote a cheque to the unnamed city
councillor.
“Did I make a contribution to the Liberal Democrats? Yes I
did,” Mr Preece answered. “But I have also made contributions to the
Conservative Party, as I still do, you know that.”
At this point Mr
Kingdom admitted he had made a statement about this to police, saying they came
to him because of his long friendship with Mr Preece.
He asked: “Was it a
donation to that particular councillor for her party?”
Mr Preece said: “I
can’t remember I think it was for the Liberal Democrat Party.”
During the
heated questioning Mr Preece had said: “You tried to destroy people.”
He
also accused Mr Kingdom of ‘plaguing’ him, and referred to a High Court hearing
last year when Mr Kingdom was handed a suspended jail sentence for contempt
after making allegations.
Mr Kingdom asked if he had ‘stopped’ when asked
to, but Mr Preece said: “No, you did not stop harassing me, no.”
During
yesterday’s hearing Mr Kingdom said: “We were friends for 20 years. I consider
our friendship was broken like a divorced couple.”
Mr Preece replied:
“There was never any friendship, you have been doing things behind my
back.”
Mr Kingdom asked: “Have you ever been envious of me?”
Mr
Preece replied: “I would never be envious of you John – I pity you.”
Mr
Kingdom answered: “I have a fabulous wife, two children, I live in probably a
much better house than you do, I have my own business premises – you have ended
up, at 66, living in someone else’s house, with the business problems you have
and no family whatsoever, why?”
Mr Preece said: “You have been pretty
crass and stupid. I have said nothing about you.”
Later Mr Preece accused
Mr Kingdom of being ‘a poisonous Walter Mitty’, while Mr Kingdom referred to
language used in Taxifast newsletters, Mr Preece’s relations with the city
council and his record on bringing litigation, and asked Mr Preece: “Do you
consider yourself to be a bully?”
Mr Preece said: “No.”
The trial
continues.
---------------------------
'FBI called in on property
deals' Friday, December 05, 2008, 19:31
ALLEGATIONS about taxi mogul
John Preece's property dealings in America were made to the famous Federal
Bureau of Investigation by bespoke Plymouth tailor John Kingdom, the High Court
has heard.
As the civil action brought by Mr Preece and his Keycabs
company went into a sensational fifth day in Bristol, Mr Kingdom admitted
contacting the FBI.
But the allegation was described as 'nonsense' and an
'attempt to cause confusion' by Mr Preece's barrister David Fletcher.
The
court also heard that Mr Kingdom had amassed 22 tape recordings of conversations
with people described as 'disgruntled' with Mr Preece.
Yesterday the
court was told about more allegations, this time about the world-famous
FBI.
Mr Fletcher said that an email had been sent to the FBI in Las Vegas
but said that the email address had been spelt incorrectly with an 'A' instead
of an 'E' in Las Vegas.
Mr Fletcher said: "If it had been a real email it
would have been spelt 'Vegas'."
But Mr Kingdom stressed: "I have spoken
to the FBI. It is not a spoof. I may have faxed it to them."
Mr Fletcher
asked: "You think you may have faxed it to the FBI in Las Vegas? Do they have
FBI in Las Vegas?"
Mr Kingdom said: "No, the London office."
Mr
Fletcher said: "It is a nonsense, another attempt to cause confusion."
He
said the allegation referred to a mortgage Mr Preece had on a house in Nevada
but asked how Mr Kingdom had information about such dealings and indeed whether
what Mr Preece was alleged to have done was even illegal.
Keycabs, which
trades as Taxifast, is suing Mr Kingdom and two ex-Taxifast employees, Phil
Manning and Dean Ruffles, for conspiracy to injure and harasssment.
The
firm claims they damaged a major business deal between Keycabs' Taxibank
operation and event management firm Expotel.
It is alleged they did this
via phone calls to Expotel and two newsletters containing allegations about
Taxifast finances and the private life of Mr Preece.
The defendants admit
writing the newsletters but deny circulating them, claiming they were designed
as a private joke. They deny the other allegations.
There was also
further discussion about allegations made about the Taxifast chairman, Mr
Preece, to the police and the Inland Revenue, regarding his tax
position.
The court heard more about allegations made by Mr Kingdom to
the Inland Revenue about another prominent Plymouth businessman which resulted
in, the court heard 'that man having to pay £400,000'.
Mr Fletcher told
Mr Kingdom he was 'a serial reporter to the Inland Revenue', which Mr Kingdom
denied.
Earlier the court had heard that allegations had been made to
police and taxmen about Mr Preece and these were still being
investigated.
Mr Kingdom was alleged in court to have been 'responsible'
for those inquiries.
The court also heard that allegations of theft at a
Masonic Lodge to which Mr Kingdom belongs had been made and Mr Kingdom has
quizzed Mr Preece about whether he had passed information to that
lodge.
Mr Fletcher also said that reporting Mr Preece to police and the
Inland Revenue was an 'attempt to intimidate him'.
Mr Kingdom replied:
"No, sir".
He said that he received information from 'disgruntled
employees' and added 'there were a lot'.
Earlier Mr Fletcher had asked Mr
Kingdom if he had written to Taxifast managing director Simon Hirst alleging 'Mr
Preece was mentally unstable'.
Mr Kingdom replied: "Yes".
Mr
Kingdom also said his memory was cloudy on some matters because 'I have been on
Valium for 18 months'.
However, when he was grilled about the two
newsletters he denies sending and various emails he admitting sending to Mr
Preece he repeatedly stressed they had been intended as 'spoofs'.
He said
one newsletter had been written by Mr Manning and the other by him, though he
alleged that a copy which fell into the hands of Taxifast had been
altered.
He said of the newsletter he authored: "It is a
wind-up".
Mr Kingdom said his only involvement with a rival taxi firm
called Unicabs was as a potential landlord.
The civil trial in The
Chancellory Division and before his Hon Judge Mark Havelock-Allan was scheduled
to end on Thursday but will now go into next
week.
------------------
Taxi mogul in tax probe court
told
Thursday, December 04, 2008, 07:00
TAXI mogul John Preece is
at the centre of a tax investigation, a High Court hearing has been
told.
The Taxifast chairman revealed, during cross-examination on the
third day of a civil trial his firm is bringing, there is an ongoing probe by
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
But it also emerged the man
'responsible' for the investigation being called was bespoke tailor John
Kingdom, one of three defendants and the person cross-examining Mr
Preece.
Mr Kingdom had asked several questions about Mr Preece's
whereabouts at different times, and property he owned in Plymouth and abroad,
stating for tax purposes the businessman had to spend a certain amount of time
out of the country.
Mr Kingdom mentioned 'a personal investigation opened
by HMRC' and asked: "Is that still ongoing?"
Mr Preece replied:
"Yes."
He said it was about 'alleged discrepancies' regarding time spent
abroad.
His Honour Judge Mark Havelock-Allan asked Mr Kingdom: "You are
responsible for the HMRC investigation?"
Mr Kingdom replied he was
'visited from an officer'.
Mr Preece then accused Mr Kingdom of
initiating another tax probe into a well-known Plymouth businessman.
He
said to the tailor: "You cannot resist interfering in my life and other people's
lives. You have destroyed people's lives."
Key Cabs, which trades as
Taxifast, is suing Mr Kingdom, and ex-Taxifast employees Phil Manning and Dean
Ruffles for conspiracy to injure and harassment.
It alleges they
conspired to make phone calls to event management firm Expotel which damaged a
major business deal it was working on with Key Cabs' Taxibank
operation.
Taxifast also claims the defendants told Plymouth private hire
drivers it was in financial trouble and published a damaging newsletter
containing other allegations.
The three defendants, who are representing
themselves at the Chancery Division hearing in Bristol, don't deny they wrote
the newsletter but deny circulating it. They deny the other allegations but are
also claiming Taxifast's finances are not as healthy as the firm had
said.
In a dramatic afternoon session, Mr Preece said allegations in one
of the newsletters had been 'hurtful' and accused it of being produced as part
of a 'conspiracy'.
Mr Kingdom asked if Mr Preece was a business
'hardball'.
"You have to be tough," Mr Preece said.
The court was
then told about a threat to kill Mr Preece and what Mr Kingdom described as a
'catalogue of disasters'.
"You are a disaster – it's not a catalogue of
disasters," Mr Preece replied.
Mr Kingdom then listed a number of attacks
against Mr Preece's property including his stables being burned down, his dog
being killed, paving slabs being thrown through a window, and paint thrown on a
wall.
"Who needs enemies when I have you?" Mr Preece asked Mr Kingdom.
"I've been burgled five times. You forgot to mention that."
Mr Kingdom
asked if Mr Preece thought Hackney carriage drivers were responsible for the
attacks and the private hire boss said: "Yes."
But he denied the
accusation that his Plymouth home was a 'fortress'.
Mr Kingdom also asked
about Mr Preece's relationship with Mr Ruffles, his former operations manager,
and his wife Jane, with whom Mr Preece has told the court he 'co-habited' for a
time.
Mr Preece described Mr Ruffles as having been 'a good driver' and
Mrs Ruffles as 'special'.
Mr Kingdom asked Mr Preece about other women he
had been involved with.
Mr Preece accused Mr Kingdom of being a 'gossip',
denying loans he sought were to 'prop up Taxibank' but for normal business
development.
He explained he had sold black cabs bought for £500,000 from
David Trace, now a Taxifast director, because they were superfluous once
Plymouth City Council had decided to grant him 20 taxibus licences for which he
would need new vehicles.
Earlier the court heard from Taxifast security
consultant Michael Foden, who said he saw one of the newsletters at a Hackney
rank but had not collected it.
Driver Christopher Trevethan said he has
spoken about the newsletters to Hackney drivers who were 'disgusted' at the
personal content relating to Mr Preece, but were 'generally delighted' at the
accusations about Taxifast's finances.
He said the firm's 'loyal
customers' would have been concerned to think the company was in
trouble.
Taxifast employee Gary Chase said the newsletters caused
concerns among staff.
The trial
continues.
--------------------
Tears from ex-taxi
boss
Wednesday, December 03, 2008, 07:00
ONE of the defendants
being sued by leading Plymouth private hire firm Taxifast left the courtroom in
tears during the second day of a High Court hearing.
Ex-Taxifast
operations manager Dean Ruffles broke down during cross-examination of his
successor at the company, David Trace.
Mr Trace had told the civil
hearing how he had visited Mr Ruffles' home to change locks following the
revelation of an affair between Mr Ruffles' wife Jane and Taxifast chairman John
Preece.
Earlier Sharon Smith, marketing communications manager for event
management firm Expotel, told the court that Mr Ruffles' voice sounded 'a little
bit like' that of an unknown telephone caller who made allegations about
Taxifast staff and finances and said the firm's chairman had 'run off' with his
wife.
London-based Ms Smith was only able to say the caller had a
'regional accent', and was then asked by Judge Mark Havelock-Allen to listen to
the voices of the three defendants.
She discounted those of bespoke
tailor John Kingdom and ex-Taxifast employee Phil Manning but referring to Mr
Ruffles said: "It sounds slightly like your voice but I can't be
sure."
Key Cabs, which trades as Taxifast, is suing the three men for
conspiracy to injure and harassment. It alleges they conspired to make calls to
Expotel which damaged a major business deal the two firms were working
on.
The firm also claims the defendants told Plymouth private hire
drivers Taxifast was in financial trouble and published a damaging newsletter
containing other allegations.
The three defendants, who are representing
themselves at the Chancery Division hearing in Bristol, don't deny they wrote
the newsletter but deny circulating it. They deny the other allegations but are
also claiming Taxifast's finances are not as healthy as the firm has
claimed.
On day two of the four-day trial, the court heard from
ex-Taxifast driver Matj Lehocky who said he had tape-recorded a conversation
with Mr Ruffles, where a transcript revealed he told Mr Lehocky the firm had
financial problems, because, being Czech and not speaking good English at the
time, he could then listen to it again and 'understand what was
happening'.
He said he only passed it to Taxifast because he had
'concerns'.
Operations manager David Trace told the hearing he has sold
17 black cabs to Taxifast, but it was revealed he was still owed
£435,000.
He also revealed, under cross-examination, that Taxifast had
sold 16 of these, valued at about £30,000 each.
But he stressed he was
'not upset' at being owed the cash and was pleased to be 'given and opportunity'
with an 'exciting company'.
He explained the sales by saying some of the
black cab drivers had decided not to transfer over, or left, because they didn't
want to enter Taxifast's 'regimented' way of working, and because Plymouth City
Council had allocated the firm 20 black cab licences for taxi buses.
Mr
Manning accused Taxifast of misleading Expotel with details of its finances,
staffing levels and staff experience to secure a lucrative taxi brokerage deal
with its Taxibank arm in early 2007.
But Taxifast managing director Simon
Hirst denied this and said the phone calls made to Expotel caused a delay in
finalising the deal and for Taxibank to miss out on contracts with major
Government departments and companies such as Virgin Trains. The defendants put
it to him there was no evidence against them, but he stressed: "I believe in my
heart that you did it."
Expotel's chief executive officer Ian Burnley
confirmed the calls caused a delay in the deal, and his firm would otherwise
have 'introduced clients earlier'.
But he said he did not think he had
met either Mr Ruffles or Mr Manning on a visit to Taxifast in Plymouth. It is
claimed the pair must have known about the Expotel deal before it was finalised.
The trial continues.
------------------------
Taxi boss sues over
'conspiracy'
Tuesday, December 02, 2008, 06:45
ALLEGATIONS made
about the private life of Plymouth taxi mogul John Preece, and the financial
health of his companies, seriously damaged a major business deal, a court
hearing has been told.
Bosses at a firm which was about to conclude a
lucrative deal with Mr Preece's Taxibank operation were told he had an affair
with an employee, staff accessed pornographic websites at work and how Mr
Preece's firms were in financial dire straits, the civil hearing
heard.
This caused the business deal to suffer a costly delay, it was
claimed.
Mr Preece's Key Cabs firm is also claiming it was 'bombarded'
with a stream of insulting emails, faxes and texts. One even offered the
Taxifast chairman use of a chamber pot, claiming, in a metaphor for financial
paucity, that he did not have one of his own to use.
Key Cabs, which
trades as Taxifast and owns most of Taxibank, is now suing bespoke tailor John
Kingdom and two former Taxifast employees, Phil Manning and Dean Ruffles, at the
High Court in Bristol.
Mr Preece is claiming they were behind the
conspiracy which resulted in delays to the deal with event management agency
Expotel.
It is alleged the three worked together to spread allegations to
Expotel bosses and Taxifast's own drivers, some of whom were shareholders in the
firm, which said the company was in financial difficulty.
They did this,
it is alleged, via telephone calls to Expotel, by discussions with private hire
drivers, and via two newsletters attributed to a taxi firm, called Unicabs, set
up by Messrs Kingdom, Manning and Ruffles.
The motive remains unclear,
Taxifast's barrister David Fletcher told Judge Mark Havelock-Allan at the
Chancery Division hearing.
However, he told the court Mr Ruffles,
Taxifast's former operations manager, may have been motivated by an affair Mr
Preece conducted with his wife Jane Ruffles.
Mr Fletcher told the court
Taxifast was suing for conspiracy to injure, and harassment. But this hearing,
scheduled for four days, would just deal with the issue of liability – whether
the three defendants, who deny the allegations, conspired to injure and harassed
Taxifast.
If they are found liable, another hearing would be called to
decide damages.
The court was also told Mr Preece had dropped an
additional claim against the defendants for damages to his business
reputation.
Mr Fletcher told the court Expotel was on the verge of
signing a money-spinning taxi brokerage deal with Mr Preece's Taxibank company
in February 2007. This was expected to create 200 jobs in Plymouth.
Mr
Fletcher claimed 'everybody knew about the Expotel contract in this company',
including Mr Ruffles and Mr Manning, who were both employed by Taxifast at that
time.
But as the deal was about to be finalised an unidentified man rang
Expotel and said Taxibank was 'financially in debt', 'the chairman had run off
with his wife' and 'employees looked at pornography online at the company', the
court heard.
During the next two months there were two further calls, one
from the same man, one from an anonymous woman.
Mr Fletcher said in March
2007, Mr Ruffles approached Taxifast driver Matj Lehocky and the barrister
quoted from a transcript of their conversation, where Mr Ruffles talked about
Unicabs and how 'John has got no money'.
Mr Fletcher said: "Unicabs was a
front from start to finish, an excuse for a campaign of vilification that they
undertook."
He said two newsletters, connected to Unicabs, a licensed
firm which never traded, were distributed to taxi drivers and
Expotel.
One was described as 'an embarrassing document attacking Mr
Preece personally' and accusing him of 'gratuitous bullying' of his
drivers.
The second was 'a generalised attack on Mr Preece' accusing him
of 'philandering and gambling', and 'suggesting something improper to do with
investment of drivers' money'.
Mr Fletcher spoke of emails sent to
Taxifast, including one claiming Mr Kingdom had lent money to Mr
Preece.
This, Mr Fletcher told the court, was 'a figment of Mr Kingdom's
imagination', and said: "John Kingdom is living in a Walter Mitty
world."
The defendants, representing themselves, later cross-examined
Taxifast managing director Simon Hirst, claiming Taxifast's deal with Expotel,
which eventually went ahead, had not been the financial success the firm
predicted, but it was not as a result of anything the defendants had
done.
They also claimed Mr Ruffles and Mr Manning had not been at
Taxifast meetings where the Expotel deal was discussed in 2006, and therefore
could not have known about it.
Mr Manning asked why minutes of daily
staff meetings had not been produced, to reveal who was present.
Mr Hirst
explained the meetings were short and the only notes taken were when actions
needed to be carried out.
The trial, which is due to conclude on
Thursday, continues today.
Brilliant Steve They pulled that story
which was at
HIGH-profile businessmen John Preece and John Kingdom have
both been at the centre of serious investigations it emerged as the pair came
face to face during a dramatic fourth day in the High Court.
Bespoke
tailor Mr Kingdom was involved in an investigation about a theft allegation at a
Masonic Lodge and Taxifast tycoon Mr Preece was probed about payments to an
unnamed Plymouth City Councillor, the hearing, in Bristol, heard.
And, as
Mr Kingdom corss-examined Mr Preece for a whole day in the civil hearing, it
emerged both men suspected each other of initiating the
investigations.
Mr Kingdom, boss of Stitches Tailoring, also accused Mr
Preece of being ‘envious’ of his lifestyle, and said the end of their 20-year
friendship had felt like ‘a divorce’.
Mr Preece denied there had been
such a friendship and also a raft of accusations put by Mr Kingdom.
The
Taxifast chairman repeatedly claimed the cross-examination to be a ‘fishing
expedition’ and called Mr Kingdom a ‘poisonous Walter Mitty’.
Key Cabs,
which trades as Taxifast, is suing Mr Kingdom, and ex-Taxifast employees Phil
Manning and Dean Ruffles for conspiracy to injure and harassment. It alleges
they conspired to make phone calls to event management firm Expotel which
damaged a major business deal it was working on with Key Cabs’ Taxibank
operation.
Taxifast also claims the defendants told Plymouth private hire
drivers it was in financial trouble and published damaging newsletters
containing allegations about the firm’s finance and Mr Preece’s private
life.
The three defendants, who are representing themselves at the
Chancery Division hearing in Bristol, admit they wrote the newsletters but deny
circulating them. They deny the other allegations but are also claiming
Taxifast’s finances are not as healthy as the firm had said.
On the third
day, the trial had heard how there is an on-going probe by Her Majesty’s Revenue
and Customs into tax matters relating to Mr Preece.
But it also emerged
the man ‘responsible’ for the investigation being called was Mr
Kingdom.
As the trial took another dramatic twist, Mr Kingdom yesterday
asked Mr Preece about whether he had spoken to Mr Ruffles about an investigation
at the Mount Edgecumbe Masonic Hall where Mr Kingdom had been a bar manager, and
an allegation of theft.
Mr Preece said: “I really don’t know.”
But
then said: “You are out of your lodge, you are no longer a member of that
lodge.”
Mr Kingdom asked: “Have you sent information to another lodge
member?”
Mr Preece replied: “I am not a free mason, I have never wanted
to be a free mason.”
Mr Kingdom asked if he had supplied information
about court cases Mr Kingdom had been involved with, and Mr Preece said:
“No.”
“Are you saying your company and you have never supplied any
information?” asked Mr Kingdom.
“I can only talk about me and I have
never supplied any information,” Mr Preece answered.
Mr Kingdom then
produced a letter from the Masonic hall’s trustees which he said proved his
‘integrity’.
He asked Mr Preece if he had been behind a customs
investigation into a rival Plymouth taxi firm, for ‘selling tobacco and red
diesel’.
Mr Preece said he had not.
The taxi mogul was also
questioned about an allegation that he had ‘bribed’ a Plymouth City Councillor
and was quizzed by police.
“The allegation was that I had given the money
to get contracts for myself,” said Mr Preece. “The police said there was no
reason to be concerned, they wanted to clear up certain allegations.”
He
explained his firm had carried out a transport survey, and admitted trying to
get ‘a question about taxi buses in there’ but stressed: “That’s not
bribing.”
He added: “They just wanted to know if I lent money to someone,
as I do to a lot of people.”
Mr Kingdom asked if a company cheque had
been paid to a woman, who then wrote a cheque to the unnamed city
councillor.
“Did I make a contribution to the Liberal Democrats? Yes I
did,” Mr Preece answered. “But I have also made contributions to the
Conservative Party, as I still do, you know that.”
At this point Mr
Kingdom admitted he had made a statement about this to police, saying they came
to him because of his long friendship with Mr Preece.
He asked: “Was it a
donation to that particular councillor for her party?”
Mr Preece said: “I
can’t remember I think it was for the Liberal Democrat Party.”
During the
heated questioning Mr Preece had said: “You tried to destroy people.”
He
also accused Mr Kingdom of ‘plaguing’ him, and referred to a High Court hearing
last year when Mr Kingdom was handed a suspended jail sentence for contempt
after making allegations.
Mr Kingdom asked if he had ‘stopped’ when asked
to, but Mr Preece said: “No, you did not stop harassing me, no.”
During
yesterday’s hearing Mr Kingdom said: “We were friends for 20 years. I consider
our friendship was broken like a divorced couple.”
Mr Preece replied:
“There was never any friendship, you have been doing things behind my
back.”
Mr Kingdom asked: “Have you ever been envious of me?”
Mr
Preece replied: “I would never be envious of you John – I pity you.”
Mr
Kingdom answered: “I have a fabulous wife, two children, I live in probably a
much better house than you do, I have my own business premises – you have ended
up, at 66, living in someone else’s house, with the business problems you have
and no family whatsoever, why?”
Mr Preece said: “You have been pretty
crass and stupid. I have said nothing about you.”
Later Mr Preece accused
Mr Kingdom of being ‘a poisonous Walter Mitty’, while Mr Kingdom referred to
language used in Taxifast newsletters, Mr Preece’s relations with the city
council and his record on bringing litigation, and asked Mr Preece: “Do you
consider yourself to be a bully?”
Mr Preece said: “No.”
The trial
continues.
---------------------------
'FBI called in on property
deals' Friday, December 05, 2008, 19:31
ALLEGATIONS about taxi mogul
John Preece's property dealings in America were made to the famous Federal
Bureau of Investigation by bespoke Plymouth tailor John Kingdom, the High Court
has heard.
As the civil action brought by Mr Preece and his Keycabs
company went into a sensational fifth day in Bristol, Mr Kingdom admitted
contacting the FBI.
But the allegation was described as 'nonsense' and an
'attempt to cause confusion' by Mr Preece's barrister David Fletcher.
The
court also heard that Mr Kingdom had amassed 22 tape recordings of conversations
with people described as 'disgruntled' with Mr Preece.
Yesterday the
court was told about more allegations, this time about the world-famous
FBI.
Mr Fletcher said that an email had been sent to the FBI in Las Vegas
but said that the email address had been spelt incorrectly with an 'A' instead
of an 'E' in Las Vegas.
Mr Fletcher said: "If it had been a real email it
would have been spelt 'Vegas'."
But Mr Kingdom stressed: "I have spoken
to the FBI. It is not a spoof. I may have faxed it to them."
Mr Fletcher
asked: "You think you may have faxed it to the FBI in Las Vegas? Do they have
FBI in Las Vegas?"
Mr Kingdom said: "No, the London office."
Mr
Fletcher said: "It is a nonsense, another attempt to cause confusion."
He
said the allegation referred to a mortgage Mr Preece had on a house in Nevada
but asked how Mr Kingdom had information about such dealings and indeed whether
what Mr Preece was alleged to have done was even illegal.
Keycabs, which
trades as Taxifast, is suing Mr Kingdom and two ex-Taxifast employees, Phil
Manning and Dean Ruffles, for conspiracy to injure and harasssment.
The
firm claims they damaged a major business deal between Keycabs' Taxibank
operation and event management firm Expotel.
It is alleged they did this
via phone calls to Expotel and two newsletters containing allegations about
Taxifast finances and the private life of Mr Preece.
The defendants admit
writing the newsletters but deny circulating them, claiming they were designed
as a private joke. They deny the other allegations.
There was also
further discussion about allegations made about the Taxifast chairman, Mr
Preece, to the police and the Inland Revenue, regarding his tax
position.
The court heard more about allegations made by Mr Kingdom to
the Inland Revenue about another prominent Plymouth businessman which resulted
in, the court heard 'that man having to pay £400,000'.
Mr Fletcher told
Mr Kingdom he was 'a serial reporter to the Inland Revenue', which Mr Kingdom
denied.
Earlier the court had heard that allegations had been made to
police and taxmen about Mr Preece and these were still being
investigated.
Mr Kingdom was alleged in court to have been 'responsible'
for those inquiries.
The court also heard that allegations of theft at a
Masonic Lodge to which Mr Kingdom belongs had been made and Mr Kingdom has
quizzed Mr Preece about whether he had passed information to that
lodge.
Mr Fletcher also said that reporting Mr Preece to police and the
Inland Revenue was an 'attempt to intimidate him'.
Mr Kingdom replied:
"No, sir".
He said that he received information from 'disgruntled
employees' and added 'there were a lot'.
Earlier Mr Fletcher had asked Mr
Kingdom if he had written to Taxifast managing director Simon Hirst alleging 'Mr
Preece was mentally unstable'.
Mr Kingdom replied: "Yes".
Mr
Kingdom also said his memory was cloudy on some matters because 'I have been on
Valium for 18 months'.
However, when he was grilled about the two
newsletters he denies sending and various emails he admitting sending to Mr
Preece he repeatedly stressed they had been intended as 'spoofs'.
He said
one newsletter had been written by Mr Manning and the other by him, though he
alleged that a copy which fell into the hands of Taxifast had been
altered.
He said of the newsletter he authored: "It is a
wind-up".
Mr Kingdom said his only involvement with a rival taxi firm
called Unicabs was as a potential landlord.
The civil trial in The
Chancellory Division and before his Hon Judge Mark Havelock-Allan was scheduled
to end on Thursday but will now go into next
week.
------------------
Taxi mogul in tax probe court
told
Thursday, December 04, 2008, 07:00
TAXI mogul John Preece is
at the centre of a tax investigation, a High Court hearing has been
told.
The Taxifast chairman revealed, during cross-examination on the
third day of a civil trial his firm is bringing, there is an ongoing probe by
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
But it also emerged the man
'responsible' for the investigation being called was bespoke tailor John
Kingdom, one of three defendants and the person cross-examining Mr
Preece.
Mr Kingdom had asked several questions about Mr Preece's
whereabouts at different times, and property he owned in Plymouth and abroad,
stating for tax purposes the businessman had to spend a certain amount of time
out of the country.
Mr Kingdom mentioned 'a personal investigation opened
by HMRC' and asked: "Is that still ongoing?"
Mr Preece replied:
"Yes."
He said it was about 'alleged discrepancies' regarding time spent
abroad.
His Honour Judge Mark Havelock-Allan asked Mr Kingdom: "You are
responsible for the HMRC investigation?"
Mr Kingdom replied he was
'visited from an officer'.
Mr Preece then accused Mr Kingdom of
initiating another tax probe into a well-known Plymouth businessman.
He
said to the tailor: "You cannot resist interfering in my life and other people's
lives. You have destroyed people's lives."
Key Cabs, which trades as
Taxifast, is suing Mr Kingdom, and ex-Taxifast employees Phil Manning and Dean
Ruffles for conspiracy to injure and harassment.
It alleges they
conspired to make phone calls to event management firm Expotel which damaged a
major business deal it was working on with Key Cabs' Taxibank
operation.
Taxifast also claims the defendants told Plymouth private hire
drivers it was in financial trouble and published a damaging newsletter
containing other allegations.
The three defendants, who are representing
themselves at the Chancery Division hearing in Bristol, don't deny they wrote
the newsletter but deny circulating it. They deny the other allegations but are
also claiming Taxifast's finances are not as healthy as the firm had
said.
In a dramatic afternoon session, Mr Preece said allegations in one
of the newsletters had been 'hurtful' and accused it of being produced as part
of a 'conspiracy'.
Mr Kingdom asked if Mr Preece was a business
'hardball'.
"You have to be tough," Mr Preece said.
The court was
then told about a threat to kill Mr Preece and what Mr Kingdom described as a
'catalogue of disasters'.
"You are a disaster – it's not a catalogue of
disasters," Mr Preece replied.
Mr Kingdom then listed a number of attacks
against Mr Preece's property including his stables being burned down, his dog
being killed, paving slabs being thrown through a window, and paint thrown on a
wall.
"Who needs enemies when I have you?" Mr Preece asked Mr Kingdom.
"I've been burgled five times. You forgot to mention that."
Mr Kingdom
asked if Mr Preece thought Hackney carriage drivers were responsible for the
attacks and the private hire boss said: "Yes."
But he denied the
accusation that his Plymouth home was a 'fortress'.
Mr Kingdom also asked
about Mr Preece's relationship with Mr Ruffles, his former operations manager,
and his wife Jane, with whom Mr Preece has told the court he 'co-habited' for a
time.
Mr Preece described Mr Ruffles as having been 'a good driver' and
Mrs Ruffles as 'special'.
Mr Kingdom asked Mr Preece about other women he
had been involved with.
Mr Preece accused Mr Kingdom of being a 'gossip',
denying loans he sought were to 'prop up Taxibank' but for normal business
development.
He explained he had sold black cabs bought for £500,000 from
David Trace, now a Taxifast director, because they were superfluous once
Plymouth City Council had decided to grant him 20 taxibus licences for which he
would need new vehicles.
Earlier the court heard from Taxifast security
consultant Michael Foden, who said he saw one of the newsletters at a Hackney
rank but had not collected it.
Driver Christopher Trevethan said he has
spoken about the newsletters to Hackney drivers who were 'disgusted' at the
personal content relating to Mr Preece, but were 'generally delighted' at the
accusations about Taxifast's finances.
He said the firm's 'loyal
customers' would have been concerned to think the company was in
trouble.
Taxifast employee Gary Chase said the newsletters caused
concerns among staff.
The trial
continues.
--------------------
Tears from ex-taxi
boss
Wednesday, December 03, 2008, 07:00
ONE of the defendants
being sued by leading Plymouth private hire firm Taxifast left the courtroom in
tears during the second day of a High Court hearing.
Ex-Taxifast
operations manager Dean Ruffles broke down during cross-examination of his
successor at the company, David Trace.
Mr Trace had told the civil
hearing how he had visited Mr Ruffles' home to change locks following the
revelation of an affair between Mr Ruffles' wife Jane and Taxifast chairman John
Preece.
Earlier Sharon Smith, marketing communications manager for event
management firm Expotel, told the court that Mr Ruffles' voice sounded 'a little
bit like' that of an unknown telephone caller who made allegations about
Taxifast staff and finances and said the firm's chairman had 'run off' with his
wife.
London-based Ms Smith was only able to say the caller had a
'regional accent', and was then asked by Judge Mark Havelock-Allen to listen to
the voices of the three defendants.
She discounted those of bespoke
tailor John Kingdom and ex-Taxifast employee Phil Manning but referring to Mr
Ruffles said: "It sounds slightly like your voice but I can't be
sure."
Key Cabs, which trades as Taxifast, is suing the three men for
conspiracy to injure and harassment. It alleges they conspired to make calls to
Expotel which damaged a major business deal the two firms were working
on.
The firm also claims the defendants told Plymouth private hire
drivers Taxifast was in financial trouble and published a damaging newsletter
containing other allegations.
The three defendants, who are representing
themselves at the Chancery Division hearing in Bristol, don't deny they wrote
the newsletter but deny circulating it. They deny the other allegations but are
also claiming Taxifast's finances are not as healthy as the firm has
claimed.
On day two of the four-day trial, the court heard from
ex-Taxifast driver Matj Lehocky who said he had tape-recorded a conversation
with Mr Ruffles, where a transcript revealed he told Mr Lehocky the firm had
financial problems, because, being Czech and not speaking good English at the
time, he could then listen to it again and 'understand what was
happening'.
He said he only passed it to Taxifast because he had
'concerns'.
Operations manager David Trace told the hearing he has sold
17 black cabs to Taxifast, but it was revealed he was still owed
£435,000.
He also revealed, under cross-examination, that Taxifast had
sold 16 of these, valued at about £30,000 each.
But he stressed he was
'not upset' at being owed the cash and was pleased to be 'given and opportunity'
with an 'exciting company'.
He explained the sales by saying some of the
black cab drivers had decided not to transfer over, or left, because they didn't
want to enter Taxifast's 'regimented' way of working, and because Plymouth City
Council had allocated the firm 20 black cab licences for taxi buses.
Mr
Manning accused Taxifast of misleading Expotel with details of its finances,
staffing levels and staff experience to secure a lucrative taxi brokerage deal
with its Taxibank arm in early 2007.
But Taxifast managing director Simon
Hirst denied this and said the phone calls made to Expotel caused a delay in
finalising the deal and for Taxibank to miss out on contracts with major
Government departments and companies such as Virgin Trains. The defendants put
it to him there was no evidence against them, but he stressed: "I believe in my
heart that you did it."
Expotel's chief executive officer Ian Burnley
confirmed the calls caused a delay in the deal, and his firm would otherwise
have 'introduced clients earlier'.
But he said he did not think he had
met either Mr Ruffles or Mr Manning on a visit to Taxifast in Plymouth. It is
claimed the pair must have known about the Expotel deal before it was finalised.
The trial continues.
------------------------
Taxi boss sues over
'conspiracy'
Tuesday, December 02, 2008, 06:45
ALLEGATIONS made
about the private life of Plymouth taxi mogul John Preece, and the financial
health of his companies, seriously damaged a major business deal, a court
hearing has been told.
Bosses at a firm which was about to conclude a
lucrative deal with Mr Preece's Taxibank operation were told he had an affair
with an employee, staff accessed pornographic websites at work and how Mr
Preece's firms were in financial dire straits, the civil hearing
heard.
This caused the business deal to suffer a costly delay, it was
claimed.
Mr Preece's Key Cabs firm is also claiming it was 'bombarded'
with a stream of insulting emails, faxes and texts. One even offered the
Taxifast chairman use of a chamber pot, claiming, in a metaphor for financial
paucity, that he did not have one of his own to use.
Key Cabs, which
trades as Taxifast and owns most of Taxibank, is now suing bespoke tailor John
Kingdom and two former Taxifast employees, Phil Manning and Dean Ruffles, at the
High Court in Bristol.
Mr Preece is claiming they were behind the
conspiracy which resulted in delays to the deal with event management agency
Expotel.
It is alleged the three worked together to spread allegations to
Expotel bosses and Taxifast's own drivers, some of whom were shareholders in the
firm, which said the company was in financial difficulty.
They did this,
it is alleged, via telephone calls to Expotel, by discussions with private hire
drivers, and via two newsletters attributed to a taxi firm, called Unicabs, set
up by Messrs Kingdom, Manning and Ruffles.
The motive remains unclear,
Taxifast's barrister David Fletcher told Judge Mark Havelock-Allan at the
Chancery Division hearing.
However, he told the court Mr Ruffles,
Taxifast's former operations manager, may have been motivated by an affair Mr
Preece conducted with his wife Jane Ruffles.
Mr Fletcher told the court
Taxifast was suing for conspiracy to injure, and harassment. But this hearing,
scheduled for four days, would just deal with the issue of liability – whether
the three defendants, who deny the allegations, conspired to injure and harassed
Taxifast.
If they are found liable, another hearing would be called to
decide damages.
The court was also told Mr Preece had dropped an
additional claim against the defendants for damages to his business
reputation.
Mr Fletcher told the court Expotel was on the verge of
signing a money-spinning taxi brokerage deal with Mr Preece's Taxibank company
in February 2007. This was expected to create 200 jobs in Plymouth.
Mr
Fletcher claimed 'everybody knew about the Expotel contract in this company',
including Mr Ruffles and Mr Manning, who were both employed by Taxifast at that
time.
But as the deal was about to be finalised an unidentified man rang
Expotel and said Taxibank was 'financially in debt', 'the chairman had run off
with his wife' and 'employees looked at pornography online at the company', the
court heard.
During the next two months there were two further calls, one
from the same man, one from an anonymous woman.
Mr Fletcher said in March
2007, Mr Ruffles approached Taxifast driver Matj Lehocky and the barrister
quoted from a transcript of their conversation, where Mr Ruffles talked about
Unicabs and how 'John has got no money'.
Mr Fletcher said: "Unicabs was a
front from start to finish, an excuse for a campaign of vilification that they
undertook."
He said two newsletters, connected to Unicabs, a licensed
firm which never traded, were distributed to taxi drivers and
Expotel.
One was described as 'an embarrassing document attacking Mr
Preece personally' and accusing him of 'gratuitous bullying' of his
drivers.
The second was 'a generalised attack on Mr Preece' accusing him
of 'philandering and gambling', and 'suggesting something improper to do with
investment of drivers' money'.
Mr Fletcher spoke of emails sent to
Taxifast, including one claiming Mr Kingdom had lent money to Mr
Preece.
This, Mr Fletcher told the court, was 'a figment of Mr Kingdom's
imagination', and said: "John Kingdom is living in a Walter Mitty
world."
The defendants, representing themselves, later cross-examined
Taxifast managing director Simon Hirst, claiming Taxifast's deal with Expotel,
which eventually went ahead, had not been the financial success the firm
predicted, but it was not as a result of anything the defendants had
done.
They also claimed Mr Ruffles and Mr Manning had not been at
Taxifast meetings where the Expotel deal was discussed in 2006, and therefore
could not have known about it.
Mr Manning asked why minutes of daily
staff meetings had not been produced, to reveal who was present.
Mr Hirst
explained the meetings were short and the only notes taken were when actions
needed to be carried out.
The trial, which is due to conclude on
Thursday, continues today.
Brilliant Steve They pulled that story
which was at
Andrew Lansley said malnourishment should not happen in NHS hospitals
