Aylesbury resident, Mr Shah says he feels ‘depressed’ now he can no longer work for a living. He was helping a passenger in a wheelchair out of the back of his cab by Aylesbury Railway Station when he was involved in a life-changing crash. On 2 May, 2023, he was unlocking the passenger’s harnesses, at the drop-off point at the station, when a vehicle crashed into the back of his car, jolting him backwards.
Mr Shah’s legs then ended up caught between the taxi and pavement, where he needed to be released by paramedics. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Bucks Herald, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. He spent seven weeks in hospital receiving treatment for a leg broken in two places, and a fracture in his other leg, before being released.
He still relies on the use of crutches to get around and struggles to travel far unsupervised. Short walks to the mosque and into Aylesbury town centre take the 65-year-old four times as long to complete. He was forced to give up his vocation of over 30 years and is now living on benefits.
"When you’re working your mind is occupied, but when you’re on your own, you’re thinking of one thing yourself, and that does not help to recover, Mr Shah said. To add to Mr Shah and his family's frustration, little is known about how and why the incident happened. Advertisement Advertisement No suspects or leads were identified in the case, which has been officially placed on file by Thames Valley Police.
Mr Shah’s family say they were disappointed with the police’s immediate response to the case. It is estimated that the first officers arrived on the scene around an hour after the collision. Family members, including Mr Shah’s daughter who was already at the scene, believe this meant police missed key opportunities to interview potential witnesses to the case.
Despite the incident happening near to the railway station at just before 9am, no clear identifications of the driver have been made and no one recorded the registration plate. The family were told the Bucks Council-owned CCTV cameras that overlook the area, were not working. Thames Valley Police did release an appeal for information regarding its investigation, where it claimed the offender’s white van may have been a ‘Ford Transit’.
Advertisement Advertisement Thames Valley Police says it carried out a thorough investigation that scrutinised all reasonable lines of enquiry to find potential suspects. Another source of the family's frustration was a lack of visits they received from police officers, who they claim made two stops at Mr Shah’s home and sent an officer from Buckingham to visit, when they were 'expecting someone with greater local knowledge'. There was also a sense that the family had to chase updates from investigating officers and often had to wait days for replies despite the serious nature of the alleged crime and impact it had on Mr Shah’s livelihood.
Mr Shah’s daughter said: “We had to keep chasing them up and there was nothing, nothing, nothing...
until they said: ‘There was nothing more we could do’. "If he would have died, would they have done something then? Or would it still have been ‘sorry, the CCTV cameras aren’t working.’” Advertisement Advertisement Another problem, that may have disrupted progress on Mr Shah’s case, was the location of where he was severely injured.
Mr Shah’s nephew, Jalani, says that anytime he contacted Thames Valley Police and mentioned the Railway Station, attempts were made to incorrectly forward him onto British Transport Police. The family think that a confusion over whose responsibility the case was may have led to misunderstandings and inaction in the crucial moments after the collision. The nearest British Transport Police station to Aylesbury is Bletchley, an estimated 40-minute drive from the scene of the crime.
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “Following a failure to stop road traffic collision on 2 May 2023, outside Aylesbury train station, in which a taxi driver and his passenger were injured. We can confirm that our investigation has now been filed. A thorough investigation has been conducted and all reasonable lines of enquiry have been followed to identify the driver responsible.
As such our investigation has now been filed pending any further information coming to light. If anyone does have any further information that could assist we would ask them to contact 101 quoting reference 43230190004.”.
