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| Tiverton taxi driver fined for assaulting PCSO http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24712 |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Thu Jul 10, 2014 7:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tiverton taxi driver fined for assaulting PCSO |
Tiverton taxi driver fined for assaulting PCSO A FORMER Tiverton taxi driver has been ordered to obey a curfew and pay a fine after assaulting a Police Community Support Officer and another woman in the town centre. Toke Locatelli, 42, of Leat Street, Tiverton, admitted a charge of assaulting Alison Williams and one of assaulting PSCO Anna Roberts on June 16. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of using threatening or abusive language. The Gazette reported how 26-year-old phone shop worker Scott Malcolm was praised by police officers after he helped to apprehend Locatelli after the assault took place in Bampton Street. On Tuesday Exeter magistrates ordered Locatelli to pay the victims compensation of £50. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £60 and £85 in court costs. The curfew means he must stay at his home address between 8pm and 6am until October 7 this year. Locatelli has been fitted with an electronic tag so his curfew can be monitored. In 2011 Locatelli, who the worked for a Mid Devon taxi company, was investigated by Devon County Council and Mid Devon District Council after a member of the public complained he was taking children to school for the county authority despite a previous conviction for assaulting a woman. Locatelli was suspended for a fortnight from school contact work but then reinstated. At the time the district council said decisions about who can or cannot hold a taxi driver’s licence “were not taken lightly”. It has now confirmed his taxi driver's licence has been revoked. Read more: http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/Tivert ... z375rb5DSW story from 2011; http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Tax ... story.html Taxi licence was renewed in spite of school driver's assault record November 01, 2011 A Tiverton taxi driver has been suspended from school contract work after it emerged he had a conviction for assaulting a woman. Driving pupils to and from Tiverton High School is among the duties carried out by Toke Locatelli over the past two years. Neither his employer or Devon County Council, which regulates school transport, were aware he had been convicted in 2009 of assault, and fined and put on probation. But throughout this time, the offence was known about by Mid Devon District Council’s licensing division, which judged the driver posed no threat to the public, renewing his license to work within the town. The conviction came to light after an angry member of the public contacted authorities to express his concern having witnessed Mr Locatelli picking up a schoolboy at Tiverton High School on a number of occasions in recent weeks. Having gone to school with Mr Locatelli and knowing of his conviction, the concerned citizen wanted the authorities to examine whether he was an appropriate person to be driving families around the town. The member of the public, who wished to remain anonymous said: “Are we saying this kind of behaviour is OK, as long as you drive us home with our shopping, take us home after a night out and take our kids to school on time?” Most of the pupils who are eligible to be transported to school by taxi are of primary school age or children with special educational needs. In some circumstances where families do not live near bus routes, a taxi service from home to school is provided. Richard Woodward, who runs the taxi firm which employs Mr Locatelli, Parkway Taxis, said he had known nothing of the conviction until it came to light last week. He said: “The driver in question has been suspended from school contact work with immediate effect and as soon as I found out I contacted Devon County Council to make them aware of the situation.” Mr Woodward said Mr Locatelli had been working for the firm since February 2009, but in that time he had received no complaints about the driver or received any hint about his conviction. He said: “I was shocked to discover this information recently. Drivers have a duty to disclose any information that may affect their ability to do their job, such as a speeding offence, for example. “We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and so the driver will not be carrying out school contract work or anything of that nature, while I await further guidance from Devon County Council.” Mr Woodward said in the five years he had run Parkway Taxis the firm had built a “good reputation locally. “We do not employ dodgy drivers.” he added. Mid Devon District Council licensing manager Marjory Parish, whose department is charged with protecting the public by ensuring drivers are safe and trustworthy, said: “I can reassure readers that any decisions about who can or cannot hold a taxi driver’s licence are not taken lightly. Each case must be judged on its own merits, taking in to consideration the individual’s history, the offence committed and the sentence issued. “We were notified by the police in 2009 that the person concerned had been convicted of an offence. We interviewed him and, in line with our policy for dealing with these kinds of issues, we took the decision that he did not pose a threat to the public and could therefore continue to operate.” A Devon County Council spokesman said the authority’s policy was to carry out enhanced level of CRB checks when transport contracts were awarded. They added: “We also have the power to remove a company or individual from a County Council contract.” Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Tax ... z375sUIHcg |
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