Purpose / Summary:
John Mulholland is a licensed Hackney Driver with this council. A complaint has been received that on a journey from Warwick Road Rank to Brampton, he allowed a vulnerable passenger to leave the taxi at Warwick Bridge, resulting in the passenger being taken to hospital.
Recommendations:
To reach a decision from the options available, after hearing the evidence and any response from Mr Mulholland in accordance with Section 61 (1) (b) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.
To the Chairman & Members of the Regulatory Panel on 8TH October 2014
NAME Mr John Mulholland
ADDRESS Leatham Street, Carlisle
AGE 55
1. HISTORY
1.1 Mr Mulholland was first granted a Private Hire Drivers licence in July 1992 and was granted a Hackney Carriage Drivers licence in 1998. He has come to our notice on a number of occasions, the last one being for a vehicle defect in 2008. None of these issues were similar to the one for which he appears before the Panel today.
2. BACKGROUND TO COMPLAINT
2.1 On 26th August 2014, the licensing section received a complaint from a Mrs Carruthers. She reported that her daughter had taken a taxi from Warwick Road rank at 9.45pm on Saturday 16 th August 2014, to travel home to Brampton. She had been attending a 21st birthday party at the Andalusian on Warwick Road, and had decided at 9.45pm that she had ‘had enough’ (meaning drink) and decided to go home. After being unable to contact her mother for a lift, she approached a taxi on the rank outside and requested to be taken to Brampton. An hour later she was found in Warwick Bridge, semi conscious and suffering from hypothermia. She was taken to hospital, where initially, medical staff were unable to find her blood pressure.
2.2 Paramedics who attended were concerned that she had been left there in a vulnerable condition by the taxi driver and contacted the Police. They visited the girl in hospital and a statement was taken. The Police were satisfied that no criminal offences were committed and advised the family to report the incident to Licensing. Unfortunately, as a side effect of hypothermia, the girl has no memory of what happened that evening.
2.3 Mrs Carruthers reported to us that she cannot understand how her daughter came to be left there as the family have no connections with Warwick Bridge at all. All they can think of was that she may have been sick, or wanted to be sick in the taxi and was abandoned by the taxi driver. However, her clothes contained no evidence of being sick. The weather that evening was heavy rain and cold.
2.4 The Licensing Officer who received the complaint eventually established from CCTV footage, that the taxi and driver who took the fare that evening was John Mulholland.
He is a driver who owns his own vehicle and does not have a radio and therefore only takes fares from the ranks. The CCTV footage of Miss Carruthers getting into his taxi will be shown at the end of the report.
2.5 Mr Mulholland was interviewed on 4 th September 2014 and recalled the fare.
He said he was 3rd in the taxi rank queue that evening. However, as it happened, the two taxis in front of him both got fares about the same time the girl approached him and so he therefore agreed to take the girl to Brampton and she got into the front seat of his taxi.
At first he said she ‘seemed ok’ but he soon realised she was ‘very boozy’. He remembered her ‘mumbling, possibly on the phone’ and also remembered she was falling asleep. He had to pull in to a lay-by at the bottom of Warwick Rd outside Tesco to establish where in Brampton she wanted to go, as he said he was concerned she would fall asleep and he would not get the address out of her.
On driving over Warwick Bridge he said she was ‘gagging’ and possibly going to be sick. He pulled quickly into a lay-by/exit of Holme Eden Abbey just over the bridge, leaned over and opened the door, and said he told her to ‘get out and sort yourself out’. He then said the girl walked away from the taxi. He said he waited a few minutes, pipped the horn, then did a U turn back to town. He was asked what was on the meter and if he had asked for the fare. He replied that he ‘didn’t normally charge someone on their own if they walked off’ and that ‘it wasn’t worth it’.
2.6 It was then explained to Mr Mulholland that the girl had been found an hour later and taken to hospital. He replied but what could I have done?’ and said ‘I couldn’t man handle a girl back into my taxi’. The Licensing Officer explained that he has a duty of care to his passengers. The options available to him could have been to inform the Police he had left a vulnerable girl in Warwick Bridge, or he could have gone after her and explained she wasn’t in Brampton and/or offered to phone someone to collect her if she didn’t want to continue the journey. A map of the drop off point is attached to the complaint (Appendix A)
2.7 On 5th September 2014 Miss & Mrs Carruthers were informed of Mr Mulholland’s recollection of the fare and shown the CCTV footage of Miss Carruthers approaching the taxi, in the hope it would bring back any memory of the evening. Unfortunately it didn’t.
2.8 Mrs Carruthers has been extremely concerned that her daughter was let out/thrown out of the taxi by the side of a busy road, knowing that she was vulnerable and could have stumbled into the road, as well as other consequences had she not been found by a passer-by and taken to hospital. She feels the driver has been negligent in his duty to transport her daughter home safely and fears other people in the same position may be treated in the same way in the future. She gave Licensing details of the lady who cared for her daughter until the ambulance arrived and this lady said she was happy to give details as to the incident that night.
2.9 A witness statement was taken by telephone on Friday 19th September 2014.
The witness confirmed the evening was very wet and cold. The girl had been found in the private entrance of Holme Eden Gardens, which meant she had walked the length of the A69 footpath opposite Downagate. She was found drifting in and out of consciousness and the lady and her husband tried to keep her warm and prevent her from choking until the ambulance arrived. (Appendix B)
3 LICENSING COMMENTS
3.1 As part of the Disability Awareness program that has been delivered to all drivers over the past year, other aspects of taxi driving have been covered, one being the duty of care placed upon drivers. Mr Mulholland attended this course on 1 May 2013, where it would have been discussed briefly about the importance of transporting all types of customers home safely. A power point presentation was given. (Appendix C)
3.2 Duty of Care is described as ‘a moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well being of others ; Oxford dictionary. ‘the legal obligation to safeguard others from harm while they are in your care, using services, or exposed to your activities’ Collins dictionary ‘a requirement that a person act towards others and the public with watchfulness, attention, caution and prudence that a reasonable person in the circumstances would’ ; Farlex legal dictionary (Appendix D)
4 LEGISLATION
4.1 Section 61(1) of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976 states that a District Council may suspend or revoke a Hackney Carriage Driver Licence on a number of grounds.
Section 61(1)(b) gives the grounds of “any other reasonable cause” (Appendix E)
5 OPTIONS
It is recommended that after hearing the evidence and any representations today, that members reach a decision in line with the options available:
Take no further action
Issue a warning letter
Suspend Mr Mulholland’s Hackney Carriage Drivers Licence for a period of time.
Revoke his Hackney Carriage Drivers Licence.
Contact Officer:
Fred Watson Ext: 7028
Appendices
attached to report:
A – Complaint
B - Witness statement
C – Extract from Disability Awareness Session
D – Duty of Care extract
E – Legislation
http://cmis.carlisle.gov.uk/cmis/Meetin ... fault.aspx
Login
Register
FAQ
). He was later diagnosed with MS which is why he had a bad back. The depot manager learnt that he could not judge medical issues as he was not medically trained.