Private-Hire driver hit with £1,000 bill after refusing to take blind passenger and guide dogBlind passenger ended up paying £150 in extra charges after missing train following row with private hire driver
A Birmingham Private-Hire driver has been landed with a court bill of over £1,000 for refusing to take a blind passenger and his guide dog in his cab.
Hafeez Ahmed, 45, wouldn’t let them in his private hire vehicle because he claimed the dog was a normal pet and was not an assistance dog, the city’s magistrates were told.
Even when he was eventually convinced it was a guide dog, he still refused to let them in, saying the blind man had been racist and abusive towards him and he felt “upset”.
The blind man was forced to travel into Birmingham city centre on his own and missed his train, incurring £150 in extra charges.
Ahmed, a married dad-of-two of Whitehall Road, Handsworth , pleaded guilty to a charge under the Equality Act 2010 of refusing to accept a booking from a disabled person with an assistance dog.
Magistrates fined him £373 and ordered him to pay courts costs of £634.
They told him the case had left them “very concerned” about the way disabled people were treated by Private-Hire drivers in Birmingham.
Christine Howrie, prosecuting on behalf of Birmingham City Council, said Ahmed was working for 24/7 Cars when he received a call in July last year to take passengers from Firbeck Adult Residential College in Bristol Road, Selly Oak , to the city centre.
The person making the booking specified it was for three passengers, one of whom was blind, and his guide dog, and all were catching a train to Scotland from Birmingham New Street.
Mrs Howrie said when Ahmed got there, he refused to take them because there was a dog amongst the party.
“It was obvious it was an assistance dog because it was in a harness,” she said.
“He was told he was being unreasonable and reminded of his obligations under disability legislation but he still refused, saying there wasn’t enough room in his car for three passengers and a dog.”
By now time was running out and the blind man’s two companions travelled on ahead, leaving him alone to wait for another cab.
This arrived an hour later, but it meant he missed his train and all the ongoing connections and had to pay £150 in extra charges.
In his statement, the blind man told the court that his guide dog was his only means of living an independent life and he relied on Private-Hires to get around.
Ray McVeighty, defending, said the incident arose out of a “misunderstanding” by Ahmed.
He said Ahmed had not been told by his control operator there was a guide dog, and when he arrived he was not initially convinced it was a guide dog as it was “not obvious” and the man did not have a white stick.
It was only when a security guard from the college intervened and told him it was definitely a guide dog that he believed the blind man.
Mr McVeighty said: “By now, my client had been racially and verbally abused by the man and was feeling very upset and did not want to take the man in his car.
“It was a misunderstanding - if the man had a white stick and was on his own he would have let the dog in straight away.”
He said his client had been a private hire driver for 30 years and knew the law surrounding disabled passengers and had taken assistance dogs in the past and was “extremely sorry” for his actions.
Magistrates told Ahmed that although they accepted this incident was an “unfortunate misunderstanding”, it left them feeling uneasy about how disabled people were treated by Private-Hire drivers in Birmingham.
Chairman of the bench told Ahmed: “This has left us feeling very concerned about the way disabled people are not getting the assistance and support they are entitled to.
“We hope you will now spread the message amongst your fellow Private-Hire drivers about this.”
source:
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi ... l-12752811
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