Partially-sighted passenger refused lift by two cabbies

Taxi drivers fined as authority takes action

Two taxi drivers have been fined for refusing to take a partially-sighted passenger and their support dog.

The person sought a ride from the Ashford International station on the evening of March 21, 2019, but was refused by Jamshed Nasir of Oaklands, Ashford.

The dog-assisted person - who the council has chosen not to identify - then asked Kemal Yalcin, of the town’s Ploughmans Way, who also declined to take them and left the passenger struggling to get home.

This is in spite of a legal duty on taxi drivers to take a disabled person who is accompanied by an assistance dog.

Ashford Borough Council’s licensing team decided to prosecute for the offences under the Equality Act 2010 and last week both defendants were found guilty at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court.

They had both denied the offence and therefore the matter went to a full trial.

District Judge Justin Barron commented upon its conclusion that the taxi drivers had knowingly turned the passenger away.

He noted parliament’s intention when drafting the Equality Act was to stop what had happened, to prevent disabled people being told to go to someone else down the cab rank.

The judge said to interpret the act any other way would “drive a coach and horses” through the intention of parliament when they drafted the act.

Yalcin was fined £180, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30 and costs of £1,200, while Nasir was fined £270, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30 and costs of £1,200.

Both drivers also had their taxi licences revoked by the council at a prior hearing and neither are appealing the decision.

Chairman of the council’s licensing committee, Cllr Peter Feacey (Con), said: “I hope our action following these incidents shows how robustly we will deal with taxi drivers who fail to comply with their legal obligations and leave a potentially vulnerable person at risk.”

Siobhan Meade, guide dogs engagement officer for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, welcomed ABC’s work.

She said: “Refusing to carry someone who is blind or visually impaired simply because they work with a guide dog strikes at the very independence we exist to provide.

“I know from personal experience that each refusal feels like an assault from which the mental scars remain.”

‘I know from personal experience that each refusal feels like an assault from which the mental scars remain...’ - Siobhan Meade

The taxi rank at Ashford station where the partially-sighted passenger was turned away