Taxi driver who left woman on country road near Ely at night loses appeal against licence suspensionA taxi driver who left a woman alone on the side of a country road near Ely in the middle of the night has had his appeal against his licence suspension dismissed.
Mark Cooney, who runs the 'Spotted in Ely' Facebook page, had his taxi licence suspended by East Cambs District Council (ECDC) following the incident in the early hours of February 15 this year.
Maggie Camp, on behalf of the council, explained Mr Cooney, 44, picked up a group of three women from the Market Street taxi rank in Ely at about 1.20am.
After dropping off two of them in High Barns, Littleport, he then proceeded on the journey with the third woman, whom he had previously been in contact with through social media.
However after a disagreement Mr Cooney, of Brewhouse Lane, Soham, asked her to leave the vehicle while passing through the village of Chettisham.
The court heard the woman, who had been drinking that night, had questioned what would happen if someone didn't pay for a taxi and had also made comments about a photograph which had been posted on Facebook.
Ms Camp said ECDC's taxi licencing sub-committee was "appalled" by Mr Cooney's behaviour and suspended his joint hackney carriage and private hire licence on April 17.
She added: "Mr Cooney could have refused to take [her] but instead he took the chance to exact some revenge on her and her family by way of his employment.
"He has not since apologised or expressed remorse for what he did that evening.
"He appears to be of the view that he's the wronged party and that his actions were justified in the circumstances."
However Mr Cooney, who was working for A10 Taxis at the time, said he had been subjected to a "barrage" of questions in the taxi which gradually became more aggressive.
He added the woman's line of questioning also led him to believe that he would not be paid for the journey.
Mr Cooney, who represented himself in court, said: "The volume got louder and eventually I didn't think it was safe to carry on with the journey.
"It seemed like a good idea to end it there with the threat of not being paid. I never expected the events to turn the way they did.
"This was a one-off isolated case involving a family I have been involved with in the past who wanted to tarnish my good name."
However the female passenger countered these claims and said she had been left a mile away from where her boyfriend lived.
She argued she only got into Mr Cooney's taxi because it was the first one she came across and while she had been drinking, she was not so drunk as to not know what she was doing.
Lead magistrate, Christine Shaw, said the bench did not accept it was a deliberate or targeted attack, but believed Mr Cooney's actions displayed a "lack of judgement" by leaving the woman in a vulnerable position.
She added: "You left a young woman in a country area at 1.30am and you didn't take any steps to ensure her safety and this must call into question your ability as a driver."
Following the decision, Liz Knox, environmental services manager at ECDC, said: "We take no pleasure from the decision of the court but we are thankful that it dismissed the appeal against the original decision of the licensing committee.
"Members had felt leaving a vulnerable young lady on a countryside road in the early hours of the morning did not meet the standards we expect of taxi drivers in East Cambridgeshire.
"We hope the verdict sends out a clear message to all taxi drivers in the district and reassures residents that their safety is our paramount concern."
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http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Taxi-dr ... z3h0w2hZyH
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