Taxpayers left with a £6,000 legal bill over £5 charge
TAXPAYERS are facing a £6,000 bill after a private-hire driver took a Derby City Council to court when he was accused of overcharging by £5 and was cleared by a judge.
Despite a 13-year, unblemished record, Adrees Ali was told by the council that he would be banned for a week and would have to undergo training after the accusation he had overcharged two passengers.
But an appalled Mr Ali fought against the sanction and launched a two-year battle to clear his name.
And a crown court judge has now ruled in his favour, pointing out the two people who accused him were drunk, and that the whole episode was nothing more than a "misunderstanding".
Derby City Council has been ordered to pay Mr Ali's £2,500 costs – as well as having to find its own costs of £3,700.
Mr Ali said: "Having this hanging over me for two years and not knowing what was coming next has been awful. I have been a taxi driver for 13 years and had no complaints against me in that time."
Robert Oxley, Campaign Manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "It's astonishing that this case has gone so far without a bit of common sense intervening. Taxpayers are footing an incredible legal bill thanks to one disputed cab fare. The council has a duty to ensure that taxi passengers get a fair ride but this case has left everyone involved with a poor deal."
In March 2010, Mr Ali, was accused by two passengers of overcharging for a trip from Chaddesden to Sinfin.
He agreed a fee of £8 up front for the journey but said the route the passengers asked him to take made the final figure £13.
The passenger withdrew the extra cash from a pay point and paid £15 in total, saying Mr Ali could keep a £2 tip.
But the following day the passenger made a complaint that Mr Ali had overcharged and Derby City Council's licensing committee heard the case.
Mr Ali, of Harriet Street in Derby, denied the allegations, saying he took the correct route and charged the appropriate fee.
But the committee of councillors took a different view and said Mr Ali had overcharged and should be banned from driving a taxi for seven days and take a competency test.
Mr Ali appealed against the decision and it went before magistrates last year.
Magistrates upheld the council committee's ruling. But Mr Ali was not satisfied and appealed again. This time it went to Derby Crown Court.
Finally he has been cleared by a judge.
A letter from his representative at Insaaf Solicitors, based in Normanton, gave him the news he had been waiting for.
It said: "Once the prosecution and defence had provided their cases, the judge concluded that both the witnesses had been drinking, which, therefore, diminishes the thought process of the two. He further stated that this was a misunderstanding which occurred and there was ample space for this to happen.
"The amount charged was an appropriate amount and if he had charged anything less, as the two witnesses suggested, he would have been losing out.
"You were cleared of the allegations which you had been found guilty of in 2010 and this concluded your matter."
Mr Ali said, while relieved by the final decision, he was angry at the way his case had been handled by the council.
He said: "Considering the fact I'd never had a complaint made against me before, the council could have looked at the case a lot more sympathetically. I think deciding to give me a ban over an allegation of overcharging by a few pounds was extreme anyway."
The council has been ordered to pay the court costs.
Mr Ali said: "A lot of taxpayers' money which has been wasted taking this action."
Olu Idowu, head of legal services at the council, said: "The council were always going to defend the appeal on the basis that we had been successful in the magistrates court and had no reason to think that were would be unsuccessful in the crown court. The total costs of defending the appeal were £3,704.50."
source:
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/Taxpa ... story.html
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