GMP Honour Community Spirited Taxi Driver

Friday, 18 March 2016 16:07

A taxi driver has been honoured by Greater Manchester Police’s Chief Constable for a glowing display of community spirit in caring for a vulnerable pensioner who was locked out of his home.

William Place (87), who retired as a police officer in 1984, had been visiting his wife, Moreen, in Manchester Royal Infirmary but lost track of time and left later than normal.

When William arrived home, the entrance to the shared shelter housing had been locked with a padlock. He did not have a key and the housing is surrounded by 5ft metal fencing.

Unsure of what to do, a confused William wandered onto Stockport Road and sought shelter in a bus stop where he was spotted by taxi-driver Kamaran Rasheed (44) at around 2:00am.

Knowing that the bus service had stopped for the evening, Kamaran dropped off his fare and returned to the bus stop to offer William a lift home free of charge.

Noticing that William was cold and disorientated, Kamaran took him to McDonalds to get him a hot drink before taking him to Longsight Police Station.

At this point PC Peter Crowe drove past and approached the pair thinking it was a dispute but soon found out that Kamaran intended to take William home for food and a warm bed, or to pay for a hotel room for him.

Kamaran then drove William home with PC Crowe but the sheltered housing company did not have an out of hours service, so the lock needed to be removed by the officer.

In total, Kamaran stayed with William for around 4 hours, devoting his own working time to care for William.

Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: “This is a glowing example of community spirit and a selfless display of care and compassion for others.

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