Taxi Driver Online

which surely says that they had booked - I cant help you on the law side of things but it really does look dodgy from where i am sitting and if it was me i would certainly not be pleading guilty regardless.

Hope you come of this on the right side dude

Thats what i thought hence why i took em but it seems not even that is a defence.

this hotel, does your PH company pick up from this hotel on a normal basis and is known in the trade of the area that they service it

is there something more you wish to tell us as something doesnt seem right, are you well liked etc etc, got no enemies

dont have that system in office wish we did would stop alot of the no pick ups. i expected this job to be a no pick up, normaly stood there they just get into a passing hackney. Will be asking for the officers phone records.

this hotel is not reguarly serviced by company but jobs do still come in from there,although not always guest staying there as its almost like a meeting point.

its where alot of drivers Ph/hackney pick up some booked some not (plying).

I was not sat there waiting.

i had a job goin from a resturant to hotel A.

When i dropped off i was then sent job from hotel A to hotel B and was told they where waiting on bus outside entrance i had to drive out of hotel and up a bit to the pick up point.

i dont think i've got any enemies only been doing this 2yrs and i keep myself to myself.

i dont think i was set up although im keen to see the officers phone records.

You must consider what your legal team said, as they do have the qualifications.

That said I would still plead not guilty. The harder you make it for the council the more chance they will back off.

Are drivers meant to ask for punters passports, or fingerprint them before they pick them up?

As for strict liability, well I assumed it also applied in Eden, yet the judge said otherwise.

Doesn't mirror your problem, but does have a level of similarities, and happens to be a favourite judgement of mine.

http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3095

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IDFIMH

You need to get as much info as possible, if you don't use it then hey ho, but get everything.

The court will throw out the charge if you don't get info that you decide you need to ensure a proper defence.

Have you spoken to a taxi lawyer?

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IDFIMH

Thanks thats very helpful.

No but my Barrister Specialises in licencing.

thanks for all the advice so far.

Contrary to Skippy's contention at 1.17am, you will NOT get access to evidence if you plead guilty.

You must plead not guilty and request officer's phone evidence and any other bits you can think of.

Your solicitor needs to get his head around licensing law and show that it was reasonable for you to expect that someone confirming the destination was tantamount to confirming their name.

Get other PH drivers to make a statement as to the steps they take to correctly identify a passenger in the normal of business.

Keep us up dated. I'm sure many other opinions will be aired on here that may be of use to you.

Good luck.

If there's several people waiting at the pick up point I rarely shout the name, particularly outside pubs, but shout the destination instead. It's too easy to say 'taxi for Smith' only for someone else to say 'that's me' and jump in. I find it best to say 'High Street' and then after someone says 'thats for me' I ask their name to make sure I get the right passenger.

Could this be used as a defence ? ie. if you asked for them by name anyone could have said it was them, even if it wasn't. But by asking the destination the chances of two different people going to the same address are slim.

Of course you should have also confirmed the name matches the destination.

how many times do you get to find this out,Suzy Bloggs wants a taxi, her boyfriend jimmy smith has decided to send her home whilst he stays in town, so jimmy rings in, can i have a taxi, in the name of Smith going to so and so, Jimmy Smith dissapears leaving Suzy Bloggs waiting for the cab
so the driver has not picked up Smith but Bloggs on her own, and she didnt book it

Can anybody recomend a good solicitor?

I've got no faith in the one i've got, all he has done so far is hire a barrister and missed court twice.

In theory that's a good idea to shout the destination but in practise and given our system (not sure what yours is) it wouldn't always work cos the telephonists seem to damn lazy to put destinations on our datahead and opt for the 'as directed' approach. Having said all that if you said you were booked for a certain name and a person said that was them, and it wasn't, how would that effect your insurance should there be an accident?

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!