Any taxi driver who has been plying for hire around London’s streets for more than a few months knows that prospective passengers have more than the obvious way of hailing a cab. That way is, of course, by sticking out their hand. Others might whistle, while some may call out “taxi.” But there are also those who look as though they want you but because you are on the other side of the road, may not do any of the above other than just look in your direction. That’s what happened to Dial-a-Cab driver John Davis (V41) except that the stare wasn’t what it appeared to be.
John Davis has appeared in Call Sign a number of times over the years, mainly for completing in charity events. Several years ago he jumped out of a plane in aid of a young disabled boy, Jack Pitcher, to help his family buy a converted van. They got one, although Jack sadly died soon after. Then John ran in the London Marathon in aid of the Children with Cancer charity. He also appeared in these pages after helping to free four children from the wreckage of a car wreck as their mother lay trapped and unconscious in the driver’s seat following a three-vehicle smash. He had jumped out of his cab and battled to free the woman’s children and also a man trapped in one of the other cars that one being on fire!
But what happened to John on Lavender Hill this particular evening was as far from charity as you can get.
It was around thirty minutes after midnight and John was heading east along Lavender Hill with his ‘for hire’ sign on. There was virtually no traffic and even fewer prospective passengers. But standing by the kerb on the other side of the street was a lone man. As John was passing, the man looked at him in the way that some do when they want a taxi. John looked in his mirror to make sure there were no other taxis about that this guy may have flagged down. But there were none, so John did a U-turn, pulled up alongside the man and asked if he had hailed him and did he want a taxi? The man said yes and asked for McDonald’s just past Wandsworth Bridge. The man asked how much, John said around £10 but that if it went more, he would cap it at a tenner. So the man got in and off they went.
As the cab reached St John’s Hill, a Mondeo with two policemen inside started flashing their blue light and John pulled over to allow them to pass believing that they were chasing someone. But it was John they wanted. The passenger said nothing.
“I couldn’t understand why they would be stopping me,” John told Call Sign, “I knew I hadn’t been speeding and searched my mind to remember if perhaps the Clapham Junction lights had been red when I crossed, but I just knew they had been green. So I pulled into the kerb and got out. One of the policemen then came up to me, told me to remove the keys from the ignition and switch off my lights.
He then flashed his warrant card and simultaneously said Metropolitan Police Cab Enforcement. I just asked why they had stopped me; after all I hadn’t done anything. But then he shocked me totally by saying that he was arresting me for touting! I asked why because all I’d done was to spot someone who I believed had hailed me and that in fact I was correct in that he did want a cab. I thought I was being helpful by spinning round to pick him up.”
But the police were having none of it. They made John leave his cab where it was and drove him to the police station. It was only then that John realised that the passenger was working with the two men in the Mondeo.
Once inside the police station, they took John’s DNA, including swabbing both sides of his mouth, fingerprinting all ten digits via computer, doing his palms and sides of his hands. He then had his mugshot take from three different angles before they then charged him with touting. John was stunned, what he thought was a good turn had put his livelihood at risk!
“What might have made me smile had it not been so serious was that on the charge sheet it said touting by a private hire vehicle (!!!) before going on to say about not being covered by the minimum third party insurance. I have and always have had fully comprehensive insurance. I was later told by a solicitor that incorrect wording was irrelevant because police can change it any time up to six months after the arrest! The Police kept me at the station until 04.30am and then gave me a date of 25th September for a court appearance. Even then, I just couldn’t imagine that any court in the land would convict me, but there was this tiny thought at the back of my mind that said nothing was impossible.
25 September: John’s day in court...
John’s day in court arrived and from the witness box, behind a bulletproof glass shield, he gave his personal details and the registrar then read out both charges. But then a strange thing happened; the duty solicitor representing John got up and whispered something to the bench.
The next thing John heard was the magistrate saying that the case was dismissed and he was free to go!
He was asked if he understood and he said no! The magistrate then repeated that the case had been dismissed, that there was no further action going to be taken and that John was free to leave at any time.
John asked if he could make a statement and used the next few minutes to call the decision to prosecute him a disgrace, saying that he hadn’t been touting and was just trying to assist a member of the public whom he thought had hailed him.
He went on to say that a lot of time, money and effort had been wasted by the police because of this ridiculous arrest. He then told the court that he would be taking the matter further and making an official complaint to the Crown Prosecution Service about the whole incident and the action of the arresting officers.
Reproduced with kind permission of CallSign magazine.
EDITORIAL COMMENT:
Cab Enforcement unit of the Met, based at Kings Cross, have just published their statistics for the past 6 months and it makes scandalous reading.
From a total of 323 drivers arrested for touting, only 170 were charged. Of these, only 113 were actually made it to court!
The Met CEU did not give the number of actual convictions.
Also, they make no distinction between Private Hire, Taxi or unlicensed tout arrests.
Taxi driver John Davis, would have obviously been included in with the arrests statistics given.
Value for money?
Let's not forget that TfL's Garret Emmerson, (in a TV interview with GLA member Caroline Pidgen) said this unit has the resources to call on over 400 officers !
In Total, they achieved just over 4 court appearances a week over the last 26 weeks !
We still don't know how many of these cases were lost as drivers were found not guilty.
Perhaps it's time for the Mayor and TfL to rethink the millions they give in funding to the Met Police to finance the CAb Enfircement Unit.
2 comments:
on a slightly different subject I have been having trouble determining whether or not people are hailing me or one of the usual group of private hire cars that seem to constantly be around me it has been dangerous on quite a few occasions now as you don't want to look a nob pulling in when it's not you they want but sometimes it is you and you have to pull up quickley as you can't afford to miss a job has anyone else experienced this ? This seems to me to be another danger now ascociated with tfl issuing hundreds of ph licences a month maybe this should be brought up in the ph consultation as for the story it doesn't suprise me that the cab inforcement would Nick an honest hard working cabbie instead of actually having the guts to get some real touts its probably easier work
Says it all, doesn't it ? What a scandalous waste of the public's money and what an example of yellow bellied, two bob,pointless cowardly policing !
The three coppers involved ought to be embarrassed drawing their wages out of an ATM every month !
I have worked with these people. Officers who behave like this generally have a lack lustre performance record, often on sick leave and fail specialist courses for more dynamic police work or promotion.
To make it look like they are earning their salary, they pull strokes like they did to our colleague John.
Scourge of the Police Service these two bob coppers. You will find some fantastic police officers in the Met, who would rather turn the job in than work with a team of the above calibre. I've seen officers like these shaking with fear and being sick when called for back up on a firearms shout on a proper incident.
Take it from me that most of the Met are not like the mugs that arrested our mate. As you say, a statistic, paper appeasing exercise in its full glory !
How embarrassing to tell your wife and kids you are part of that team !
Sad to hear it John, put it behind you mate and be lucky. Not all coppers are like these cowboys.
Semtex
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