'Panic switches’ for Wolverhampton taxis to be considered after driver killed - full details amid Silent Crime campaign

Wolverhampton Council is planning to allow taxi drivers to momentarily record audio from inside cabs using a ‘panic switch’ after city driver Anakh Singh was attacked and killed over a £5.80 fare in 2022.

36-year-old Tomasz Margol was jailed for 10 years for manslaughter after punching, kicking and headbutting Mr Singh in Nine Elms Lane, Wolverhampton, before leaving him to die.

More than 300 crimes were recorded in 2019 by West Midlands Police that involved Wolverhampton taxis according to the council.

The shocking statistics are revealed as the Express and Star, along with its sister NationalWorld newspapers and websites, launches a campaign against Silent Crime to give victims of underreported incidents a voice. You can read more about it below.

Taxi drivers can install CCTV cameras in their vehicles, although it is not mandatory, but are banned from continuously recording audio.

Some councils have already given drivers permission to install ‘panic buttons’ which start recording if a driver feels in danger.

Wolverhampton Council said following the killing of Mr Singh in 2022, as well as other attacks on drivers in Coventry and Solihull, it was reviewing its position on audio recording as part of plans to greater protect drivers from violent attacks.

Up until now, the council has opposed allowing taxi drivers to continuously record audio in cabs saying that recording conversations would be “highly intrusive to people’s data rights and unjustified in meeting the purpose of preventing and evidencing crimes.”

Wolverhampton Council installed a panic switch in one taxi as part of a pilot scheme. The system is used by Rotherham Council which was one of the first local authorities to allow audio recording in licence taxis following the child exploitation scandal.

Wolverhampton would join councils in Sheffield, Guildford, York, Cambridge, and Southampton to introduce taxi audio recording.

The council’s regulatory committee meets on Wednesday to approve plans for a six-week public consultation.

A final decision is not expected to be made until next year.

The epidemic of Silent Crime

6,300 crimes go unsolved every day in Britain, according to latest Home Office figures.

The government data also shows that two million crimes went unsolved in a single year in the UK, while offences like knife crime and shoplifting soared in the same set of statistics.

The relentless daily criminality has promoted the Shropshire Star along with its parent company, NationalWorld and sister websites and newspapers across the country, to launch a campaign to give victims of the violence, thefts and anti social - that so often go underreported - a voice.

We are calling this epidemic Silent Crime.

Research shows that we only bother to tell police about four out of ten crimes. Add those two figures together and it is clear that the vast majority happen with absolutely no repercussions. And so they continue.

We want you to tell us incidents that have happened to you, your family or your friends in your neighbourhood; how it impacted you and what justice was served - or not.

Why don't we report every crime and why isn't the criminal justice system better at making criminals pay? It would seem to me that faith in the systems that should keep us safe is at rock bottom.

Most of this isn't the police's fault, a lot comes down to a social care system that has collapsed and politicians who have turned a blind eye for decades. That doesn't mean that urgent action couldn't and shouldn't be taken. It doesn't have to be this way.

To force change, we need to unite and remind ourselves that these 'little' crimes are not acceptable. You should be safe and feel safe at work, at home, in the park and in our own neighbourhoods. We need you to tell us your stories and we, on your behalf, will take them to Downing Street. We need to stop being silent and we need you to help us.

Join our Silent Crime Survey across the Black Country, Staffordshire and Wyre Forest