Tagged: Covid positive Edinburgh cabbie drove vulnerable OAPs knowing he was infected

A taxi driver has been told that he put the lives of his passengers at risk by picking up fares despite being diagnosed with Covid 19.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

Gordon Leadbetter accepted fares from pensioners including a 91-year-old woman, an 82-year-old man and care home workers after testing positive last December.

Leadbetter, 59, also ferried desperately ill passengers to and from Edinburgh Royal Infirmary who were attending for dialysis treatment while failing to wear a protective mask.

A sheriff said Gordon Leadbetter had 'put lives at risk'

The cabbie tested positive for coronavirus the day after his wife was diagnosed with the killer disease and had been rushed into hospital for urgent treatment.

Leadbetter, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, was caught out after a neighbour heard of his positive test result and phoned his employers at Central Taxis to air their concerns.

He was suspended from the Edinburgh taxi company following a board meeting on December 26 last year and was subsequently arrested and charged by police two weeks later.

Leadbetter pleaded guilty to culpably and recklessly accepting vulnerable passengers into his taxi between December 17 and 26 last year after he had been tested positive for the virus when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

He was back in the dock for sentencing and heard Sheriff Chris Dickson say he had carried out “a very serious offence” and had put “a number of patients at risk”.

READ MORE: Covid positive East Lothian cabbie picked up fares despite 'stay home' order

Leadbetter was spared a jail term and instead was placed on a 12-month supervision order and told he must complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

He will also be electronically tagged and must stay within his home for the next eight months between the hours of 9pm and 5am.

Prosecutor Debbie King told the court Leadbetter was a self-employed taxi driver who “worked mostly for Central Taxis” and drove a seven-seater black Ford Transit Pro-Cab.

Ms King said there was “potential threat to the most vulnerable areas of society” while he continued to work and had accepted 52 jobs between being tested and suspended.

The fiscal listed a number of passengers who had been put at risk including a 91-year-old care home resident, a 71-year-old dialysis patient and a 61-year-old with a heart condition who had been shielding.

The taxi driver also accepted fares from an 82-year-old dialysis patient, several care home workers and a support worker who helped elderly and vulnerable people with dementia.

Central Taxis received an anonymous tip off stating Leadbetter was continuing to drive his cab despite having been told to self-isolate due to testing positive for Covid the week previously.

READ MORE: Covid Scotland: 13 new deaths in 24 hours as daily cases reach more than 1,600

Solicitor Victoria Good, defending said her client had worked as a taxi driver for 18 years and had been “struggling financially” in the run up to Christmas.

Ms Good said Leadbetter had displayed “no symptoms” and had “stupidly” decided to carry on working despite the positive test result.

The charge also stated Leadbetter exposed the passengers to immediate risk of health and exposed them to risk of heightened communication of transmission of the virus, all to the danger of their lives and health.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.