A nonsense story this, in my opinion - see below.
Taxi driver speaks out after fare-dodger jailed for doing a runner over £18 journey billhttps://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... r-16425947"Quite often it's decent looking people who are doing this. They will just brazenly walk into their homes"A taxi driver has spoken out after a fare-dodger was handed a jail sentence for making off without paying for an £18 journey.
The incident, which happened in Wallasey, resulted in the offender being jailed for 18 weeks at Wirral Magistrates Court in February.
The case resulted in some backlash on social media, with people suggesting a prison term was too harsh a punishment for the nature of the crime.
But for the taxi driver involved, a jail sentence was justified in light of what he described as a "huge increase" in people doing runners from working class cab drivers across Merseyside in recent months.
The driver - who asked to remain anonymous - told the ECHO: "It's increased massively lately. There's always been this problem, but it's on the rise.
"I think the jail term was 100% justified. I can understand why people would compare it to other crimes, but what we need to do as a trade is to report these people for a number of reasons.
"It's in the hope that we can get our fare back, but it's more than that. It's to send a message to the person who did it that you will be punished, we won't give up on this any more like we would have in the past because this is happening more and more and we can't carry on the way it is."
The case brought to court concerned a man who had "a tour of Wallasey" to a number of different shops before making off without paying the £18.30 fare, the driver said.
A spokesperson from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed the jail sentence related to that and a number of thefts which the defendant pleaded guilty to.
The concerned cabbie, who drives a private hire vehicle, said the vast majority of customers are decent people - but even just one fare dodger a week could have a huge impact on someone's takings.
He said: "People think, it's only £4 or £5, we won't be bothered. But if that happens two or three times a week, that can be half the takings. It's not a nice feeling.
"Some people think we [private hire drivers] are making a fortune, that if we do a £20 job, we take that £20 home. That is not the case. For years a taxi driver would take about 50%, now it's less, we are making 40% from what we take.
"Most drivers have a family to provide for and other commitments. Often that means working 10 or 12 hours a day, six days a week.
"Quite often it's decent looking people who are doing this, especially if they have had a drink. They think it's only a taxi driver, I will go in and lock the door and not go back out. They will just brazenly walk into their homes in many cases."
After a post about the case was shared on social media, some people said 18 weeks in prison was extreme for what they considered was a minor offence.
But many had sympathy for the struggling taxi driver and voiced support for cracking down on fare dodgers.
One said: "I get that worse criminal behaviour is happening but having a driver off is just like stealing from a shop, its livelihood no matter how big or small the amount is stealing is wrong and ye if it's a recurring theme for one person then action should take place."
Another said: "Can’t believe some people on here moaning about this person getting a jail sentence, if this person robbed money off you, no matter how much it was I’m sure you would want the police to do something about it. Taxi drivers work hard and put up with a lot of abuse from some people, the police look to them to get them away from pubs, clubs and gigs to cut down on fighting and anti social behaviour and then the poor drivers have to deal with these passengers on their own."
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but other odd thing about this piece is that the runner was jailed in February, but seems this article has just appeared now? 
