Taxi Driver Online

One of those 'he said, she said' scenarios where it's difficult to assess the evidence without actually hearing it all.

But clearly the ombudsman thought the police officer more credible than the driver


Police officer cleared of racially discriminating Belfast taxi driver

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news ... 67793.html

A police officer accused of racial discrimination against a taxi driver who said he had been assaulted by a customer in south Belfast has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

The taxi driver contacted police in May 2019 claiming he had been attacked by a customer who damaged his glasses after refusing to pay his fare.

The customer went on to tell police he had been assaulted by the taxi driver, who he said had been driving too fast and refused to pull over.

The taxi driver went on to make a complaint to the Police Ombudsman alleging a police officer refused to investigate his allegation - but instead had pursued the customer’s report about him.

He said he was offered a community resolution notice (CRN) by the police officer, a measure designed for low-level offending - which the taxi driver said was inappropriate because he had been injured and his property damaged.

When the Police Ombudsman investigated, however, she found that the driver and customer had both initially agreed that the matter could be dealt with by a CRN.

The measure was agreed on the basis that the customer had paid the taxi fare and said they would pay for the damage to the taxi driver's glasses.

The Police Ombudsman investigator said the police probe was "effective and timely”, and that both parties had been treated fairly.

She found no evidence to back up the taxi driver’s allegations that the officer hadn't responded quickly enough to his text messages, and had not referred him to Victim Support.

The Police Ombudsman also did not uphold the complaint that the officer had tried to intimidate the taxi driver by telling him that another officer wanted to speak to him about an unrelated incident, and said it was "reasonable" the taxi driver had been asked to do so to avoid having to return to the police station on another occasion.