Taxi Driver Online

This is the latest story, but below is one posted by Captain Cab back in 2014. Wonder if the guy was stripped of his badge after being cleared of rape, or wot?

Carlisle driver lands £735 fine

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/1745 ... -735-fine/

CARLISLE City Council is stressing the dangers of using unlicensed taxis and unlicensed private hire vehicles following a court conviction.

Dariusz Kowalczyk, 52, of York Gardens, Carlisle, pleaded guilty to five offences at north Cumbria Magistrates’ Court this week.

He was charged with using a vehicle as a private hire vehicle without a licence, acting as a driver of a taxi without a licence, acting as a private hire operator without a licence, plying for hire without having first obtained a licence, and waiting at an appointed hackney carriage stand in a prohibited vehicle.

For the two offences of driving without a licence he was fined £200 each.

he magistrates treated the other offences as four separate offences and imposed a fine of £55 each.

There was an order of £85 for costs and a victim surcharge of £30, giving a total penalty of £735.

A spokeswoman for Carlisle City Council said: “All cases of alleged illegal taxi and private hire operations are being investigated and where information is obtained to evidence an illegal operation action will be taken.

“Don’t be tempted by convenience, availability or a cheap fare - the vehicle you get into may not be safe, you may not be covered by insurance and the driver may not be a safe and fit person.

“Properly authorised taxi and private hire drivers have all these safeguards.”

To enjoy a safe journey, here are some helpful tips:

- Pre-book - Plan ahead and always pre-book through a licensed operator, alternatively use one of the Hackney ranks in the city centre.

- Check the details - Ask for details of the car when making the booking and make sure that the driver knows the destination and the name it was booked under, when it arrives.

- Check the vehicle - Make sure that the vehicle is plated with private hire or hackney carriage licence plates on the rear of the vehicle. Private hire vehicle and white taxis will also have white door signs with the City of Carlisle displayed. A licensed Hackney Carriage also have an illuminated roof sign displaying the word ‘Taxi’.

- Ask for ID - Ask to see the driver’s ID badge. He or she is obliged to wear this badge so that it is distinctly visible. There is no reason a driver should refuse to show this to the customer and they must have it in their possession to carry out licensed journeys.



Carlisle taxi driver cleared of sex attack

Dariusz Kowalczyk, 48, had been accused of “behaving in a sexually predatory way” and of launching a serious assault on the woman after parking in a secluded part of Carlisle.

But a jury returned a not guilty verdict following a four-day trial at Carlisle Crown Court.

Mr Kowalczyk, of Esther Street on Carlisle’s Currock estate, was visibly emotional as he walked free from the court’s dock after the jury foreman announced the verdict.

The cabbie had denied a charge of orally raping the woman.

The prosecution in the case had claimed that Mr Kowalczyk drove her to a “quiet spot” at Stainton, near Etterby, Carlisle, before carrying out an attack.

But Mr Kowalczyk said that everything that happened was consensual.

Mr Kowalczyk, a Polish national, sat alongside an interpreter in the dock during the trial.

The jury deliberated for four hours and 19 minutes before returning the not guilty verdict.

Not clear if he ever got his badge back, but Captain Cab said this back in 2014:



There was also this back in 2012 - driver obviously gets into a few scrapes:

Carlisle taxi driver knocked out in row over £25 fare

A taxi driver viciously assaulted by a man after he refused to negotiate a fare endured so much pain he wanted to cry, magistrates heard yesterday

David Jackson, 41, carried out the attack outside Carlisle’s railway station after being told that a journey to Gretna would cost £25.

His victim, taxi driver Dariusz Kowalczyk, was first punched through the open window of his cab, then knocked out after he left his vehicle, and then kicked hard as he crawled on all fours, city magistrates heard.

In court yesterday, Jackson, of Falcon Drive, Gretna, pleaded guilty to assaulting his victim by beating him, and guilty to a second charge of using threatening behaviour at Carlisle’s rail station.

Adrienne Harris, prosecuting, described how Mr Kowalczyk had simply been doing his job at 10.30pm, waiting in his cab outside the station when Jackson and his wife approached him.

“She asked how much the fare would be to Gretna, and the complainant said it would be £25, and that the figure was non-negotiable.”

It was at this point that Jackson punched the taxi driver in the face. The cabbie said he believed it was his refusal to barter over the fare that angered Jackson.

Mr Kowalczyk got out of the taxi and recalled seeing Jackson coming towards him, his fists clenched.

“He then recalled waking up on the floor with a pain in the back of his head.”

When he tried to get up Jackson struck again, kicking him from behind “very hard”.

Miss Harris said: “He was immediately doubled up with the pain – and in so much pain that he wanted to cry. Other drivers then came to his assistance.”

From there, Jackson went on to the railway station but staff there would not let him in because of his behaviour. He jabbed his finger at worker Niall Ried, intimidating him and offering to fight.

The defendant calmed down after the arrival of British Transport police officers. In his police interview, he said he had drunk a bottle of wine, missed the last train to Gretna and then drank more.

“He described what had occurred as a mystery,” said the prosecutor.

In court, Jackson, a man of previous good character, said he had apologised to Mr Ried and wanted to apologise to the taxi driver he attacked.

“I had too much to drink,” he said. Magistrates ordered a background report and adjourned the sentencing hearing until February 28.

The court have found him not guilty and that's that.

However I hope his licensing authority investigate him taking a punter to a secluded spot and having, as the jury agreed, consensual sex.

That is not the actions, in my view, of a fit and proper driver.

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IDFIMH

Looks like that was done and dusted years ago

Think that was my fault though, had several tabs open at once to piece the thing together, then pressed wrong submit button, so for literally a few seconds had the old rape article up on its own and totally out of context, and during that few seconds someone just happened to look at the post. Same old, same old - no one looks at a thread for hours, then you have the wrong post up for literally seconds, and someone just happens to look

And then my broadband connection failed, and couldn't get it back for a few minutes. Usual

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IDFIMH