Taxi Driver Online

Court rules taxi driver falsely accused of rape can receive compensation in legal first

A taxi driver falsely accused of rape could receive up to £100,000 when he becomes the first victim of a malicious allegation to receive criminal injuries compensation. Clive Bishop, 49, says his life was ruined after a drunken 17-year-old passenger claimed he raped her while driving her home.

Kirsty Palmer later admitted she made up the allegations and was jailed for ten months for perverting the course of justice. Foster carer Clive Bishop will become the first person in Britain to receive criminal injuries compensation for a malicious allegation after he was falsely accused of rape

But Mr Bishop says her false accusation led to the collapse of his business as he was forced to spend months living under a cloud of 'slurs and lies'. He was then twice refused a payout from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) - because he had not received any physical injuries.

But that ruling has now been successfully overturned. The landmark decision is the first time the authority has agreed to compensate for the mental trauma of a false criminal accusation. It is not yet known exactly how much he will be paid, but his lawyers estimate it could be as much as £100,000.

Mr Bishop, who has been a foster parent to ten children with his wife Sue, was arrested a few hours after he dropped Palmer, a mother-of-two, at her house two years ago. Months later, she confessed that she drunkenly lied to a neighbour that she had been raped, which led to the police arriving at Mr Bishop's house at 4.30am where he was arrested in front of his wife.

Mr Bishop said: 'I kept trying to explain to the police that it was nonsense. 'But I kept being told to shut up. I was in shock but convinced that they'd realise I hadn't done anything and let me go.' Mr Bishop was questioned for 12 hours before being subjected to 'humiliating' intimate forensic examinations and then bailed.

His taxi was also seized for forensic examination and he was under police scrutiny for a further three months. Ostracised by his local community, Mr Bishop says he tried to return to driving his taxi, but found himself unable to find work after the allegation was made.

But he was twice refused compensation for the devastation caused by Palmer - because he not received any physical injuries.Last week however the CICA finally agreed to award him compensation at a closed hearing in Taunton.

He will now undergo a psychological evaluation to determine the amount he will be eligible to receive before officially applying for compensation later this year. The amount he gets will depend on the psychological damage he suffered from the incident as well as his lost earnings.

Mr Bishop, from Walton, Somerset, said: 'It's been such a difficult time for me and my wife. They claim you are innocent until proven guilty but in reality that is not the case. 'People always assume the worst and we had to live with three months of slurs and lies about my character.

'That is why this ruling is so important to me - I could not ever drive a taxi again so this decision will make a huge difference to my life. I'm just so very happy and relieved.' He added: 'I've been to hell and back since the claim was made but now I am finally able to put the whole thing behind me and start my life again.

His lawyer Russell Pearce added: 'This is without doubt the right result. 'It is the first time that a person who has been falsely accused of committing a crime has allowed to claim compensation from the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority.

'It is a landmark case - especially for all those who have suffered the extensive trauma that a false allegation can bring. 'This now means that in the future other people will be able to make an application, which is very important.'

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IDFIMH

This happened to two of my mates

Case number 1, drives a woman 20 miles home, she pays and then asks if he'd like a cuppa, he says yes and she returns in a nighty, he slips her one and then goes home, later that night theres a knock on the door by the police saying she's accused him of raping her, turned out she was a nut who accused quite a few ppl.

Case number 2, female passenger is in the front of his car, she puts her hand on his leg and tries to arouse him, larking around he puts his hand on her leg and hey bisto she accuses him of sexual assault, 8 mths later he managed to clear his name in court, barrister ripped her a new [edited by admin], I'm going to show him this because it was only a few years back and he never got anything, but lost 8 mths wages and still the whisperer's slag him off as a [edited by admin].

As he actually touched her I doubt that he will get anything.

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Grandad,

Probably right there GD, but it was all in relation to the way she started things off, he literally just patted her thigh iirc, he's only 68 years old and suffers from Parkinson's so I guess that makes him a Don Juan.

A mate of mine is taking Nottinghamshire Police to court for the same thing. 5 years ago he got wrongly accused of rape, the woman who accused him had done it 3 times before, he nearly got 5 years inside if it wasn't for his sharp eyed barrister who found some flaws in her statements, he also asked the Police if she'd done anything like this before? No papers were forthcoming unitl the day he was at court for sentencing when the papers where presented to the judge, the judge said that he couldn't sentence this man today due to these papers being presented to him in court, he also said that if he did pass sentence an innocent man would be going to jail. The Judge ordered a re trial and the jury found him not gulity within 5 minutes.

The woman in question wasn't ordered to attend court at all, she got off scott free, it's now down to Nottinghamshire Police to compensate him.

Women like her need hanging.

They don't even hang rapeists ffs

She should be charged and given the same sentence that the falsely accused man would have got

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

And for the innocent other men she accused of raping her?

If they'd done this the first time she probably wouldn't be around to acuse the others at least not for a few years and it may make her think twice before she did it again

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

lock her up





in a mens prison................

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

It was the Police's fault for not forwarding the papers to the barrister when he asked for them, the Police must have known she'd done it before but they let the case get to far through the justice system to stop it themselves.

Maybe they did and maybe they didn't. Perhaps they got the records to the court as soon as they seen them and somebody realised what was going to happen. I'm not saying that the police shouldn't pay for their mistakes I was just suggesting an alternative to hanging the bloody woman

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

Our legal system does not allow a persons "previous" to be raised during a court case, they can be raised for sentencing

The killer of "Baby P" was convicted of child abuse, the jury were not told till after that he was the same guy

The police do not prosecute anyone, they assemble the case and details/evidence and pass to the CPS.

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Alright then kick her square between the legs then hang her.

Ffs you're harsh

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

I know Toots but when you see a broken man down on his knees with neighbours talking about him, ex workmates doubting him (I didn't), his name plastered all of the papers and on the local TV news you can understand why I want to hang the bitch. I've seen it first hand mate, he was lucky because his wife and the solid lads on the rank stood by him.