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Every dog has his day! |
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Taxi driver fined £2K for disability discrimination
Slough Borough Council is reminding licensed private hire drivers of their legal duty after a driver was fined £2,175 for refusing to take the booking of a disabled customer. The council’s licensing team were contacted in July last year, after private hire driver Mr Jarnail Singh refused to take a disabled and partially sighted woman who was accompanied by her registered assistance dog. He refused to take the woman, telling the hotel receptionist who booked the vehicle on her behalf that he did not take dogs in his car. In doing so he committed an offence contrary to Section 37A (3) of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, regarding the carrying of guide dogs. Under the DDA, drivers cannot refuse to carry registered assistance dogs unless they have applied for and been granted an exemption certificate on medical grounds. Mr Singh had neither applied for, nor been granted, this exemption. Mr Singh, of Goodman Park in Slough, was due in Bracknell Magistrates Court on Friday, January 23, 2009 but failed to attend. However, due to the serious nature of the offence, and the additional evidence provided by the customer, the case was heard in his absence. Mr Singh was convicted of having ‘failed or refused to carry out a booking made by, or on behalf of, a disabled person’ for the reason that ‘the disabled person would be accompanied by their assistance dog’. Mr Singh was fined for committing a level three offence and was subject to the maximum fine of £1,000, plus £1,175 additional costs. Mick Sims, licensing manager for Slough Borough Council, said: “This is a very serious offence and breach of the DDA that we will not tolerate. “We’re extremely pleased with the result as it’s our first prosecution of this type. We hope the case serves as a warning to all other licensed drivers to ensure they operate fairly and within the law.” Cllr Shafiq Chaudhry, commissioner for community and leisure, said: “Well done to everybody involved in bringing about this prosecution. “Disability discrimination is an extremely serious matter. It’s important residents feel confident that the council is doing everything it can to ensure drivers who breach the DDA are prosecuted.” |
