Taxi Driver Online

Harrogate taxi driver prosecuted for refusing to take blind woman’s assistance dog


A hackney carriage driver who refused to take a blind woman’s assistant dog has been fined £100 and ordered to pay £325 prosecution costs.

On Wednesday 1 July 2015 at Harrogate Magistrate Court, Mr Cemil Guclu pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to carry an assistance dog in his taxi contrary to section 168 of the Equality Act 2010.

The court heard that Mr Guclu, who had been parked on the Station Parade taxi rank in Harrogate, wouldn’t allow the assistance dog in his vehicle despite being told that the animal couldn’t be refused carriage. Both the dog’s owner and Mr Guclu subsequently reported the incident to Harrogate Borough Council’s Taxi Licensing team.

Mr Guclu’s actions broke the conditions of the licence he was granted by Harrogate Borough Council. Under the Equality Act 2010, taxi and private hire drivers must allow guide, hearing or assistance dogs to be carried in their vehicles. Drivers may apply to the council for an exemption on medical grounds, but Mr Guclu had not done this. In mitigation, Mr Guclu told the court he was fearful of dogs and for this reason did not want to carry the animal.

Mr Guclu was fined £100, and ordered to pay a Victim Surcharge of £20 and £325 towards the council’s prosecution costs, making a total of £445.

Councillor John Ennis, Harrogate Borough Council’s Licensing Committee Chairman said:

"Assistance dogs enable people who are blind or partially sighted to travel independently and if a taxi driver refuses to carry such an animal it can have a serious impact on the owner’s freedom of movement.

I hope this conviction sends out a strong message to taxi drivers. Refusing to carry an assistance dog, unless you have a valid medical exemption certificate, is simply not an option. Anyone doing so will face a large fine and their action could have a serious impact on their livelihood."

source: http://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2015/07 ... tance-dog/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

So he should be! there better behaved than some kids

fair play that hes been prosecuted.


but i'd love to know if theres any specific guidelines for what happens if a guide dog soils a cab?

Id see it as fouling is fouling... and the appropriate charge human/dog/other lol

Yellow card for a first offence.

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Former taxi driver

If someones ordinary dog soils the cab do they pay ?
Remember you can't discriminate

If it did happen that a guide/assistance dog did a whoopsie and the driver charged a soiling fee then the press got hold of it the poor driver would be crucified.
It reminds me of a situation a few years back where a woman gave birth on the drivers back seat and he asked the next day for a soiling fee the local press made him out be a right tw@t despite the fact he had lost a nights work plus the time and cost of getting his upholstery cleaned.

Good point

Hmm an interesting situation arose today. Mrs was in the hairdresser when two guys came in to make an appointment (unisex hairdresser).......can we bring the dog in? The hairdresser realising that the dog was a blind person assistance dog said yes, the two guys were not blind! However they had been refused re the dog by another hairdresser next door.

So....is the offence of refusal against the blind assistance dog? the blind person? Or both?

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Common sense........is just not that Common.