Taxi touting

[churchill123]

i was charged with taxi touting last week. I was walking towards my car when a man pretending to be lost approached me whilst i was waiting to cross the rd towwards my parked car. I asked him if he was ok as he looked lost and confused. He said he was lost as he was not from the area and that he was trying to get to his hotel in kings cross , london. I pointed out to him he was walking in the opposite direction and that he had to walk the othher way to get to kings cross stn. He seemed genuinely lost. As i was going past kings x stn on my way home and it was only 500 metres away i said to him il drop him off there where he can get his bearings again and find hiw way from there as he claimed he would. No mention of any reward or money was made by anyone. I was going to do it as a act of kindness. I like to think if i was in a large city like london and was lost being from another area someone would direct me and help me like i was willing to do. Anyway as we walked towards my car he pulledout a warrant card and identified himself to be a policeman. He arrested me, handcuffed me, and placed me at the back seat of my car. He then prepared a statemtn on the roadside and asked me to sign it, which i refused. We then went to police stn and interview was conducted. In interview we contradicted each other as to who approached who. Also i asked him to confirm if i had asked for any money or did he offer any money in return for a lift. He confirmed i NEVER. He also confirmed that he DID say he was lost and was looking to get to kings cross. I was still charged with taxi touting. After interview he changed in his behaviour towards me. Pre interview he was cocky, confident and friendly. Post interview hee was seething because i asked him if money was involved in our convos. Presumably no money or reward=no touting or very difficult to prove!! Will this get thrown out of court do you think? Feedback would be grateful....thanks

[churchill123]

Thanks DOHCC i will do. My first court appearance is next wednesday and i expect it to be adjourned for trial. I will keep you posted as to what happens. Thank you once again!

[churchill123]

Thanks Eddie...I will keep you posted of what happens.

[joko]

just to be clear...are you a taxi driver?

does your car have taxi stickers etc on? and you are claiming your were off duty?

or is it just a normal car?

[churchill123]

No joko, Im not a taxi driver, never have been. My car is a normal private car i use for work (office admin). The car has no stickers or any taxi signs etc.

[factorfiction]

Is this the first tme you've posted this query, churchill? I recall reading something similar on AB before but that was maybe 18 months ago.

[factorfiction]

I have just remembered- the earlier thread I was thinking of was from someone called something like ranthevan in 2008, and I see your ecently posted on that thread
http://www.theanswerb...w/Question586102.html

[churchill123]

No factorfiction, this is the first time ive posted on here. The rathnaven case is not mine. Thanks

[churchill123]

nosehair im all for applying the law when required but i also think prioritising and catching dangerous criminals must take precedent when tackling crime for the simple reason we dont have the resources to combat every crime. Where i was arrested, no more than 100 metres away there were people selling cocaine to clubbers, and tablets...people being rowdy and kicking bins across the street and generally unruly behaviour, but they chose to get away from all that by arresting someone on trumped up charges so they could get into the warmth of the police station and waste time and money pursuing a non existent crime!

[factor-fiction]

DId you have a solicitor present and do you still have one? If so, what is the solicitor's view?

[hc4361]

Shame you don't appreciate the seriousness of taxi touting. That is one way for a rapist to entrap a victim.

[churchill123]

Factr 30 i did not have a solicitor present in interview simply because if i had asked for one i would have had to have waited about 4 hours. plus i thought it was a straight forward so no solicitor required. I got the police to admit on tape there was no reward asked by me or offered by him, hence no money or reward no offence!! that i got him to admit on tape....plus the other things that happened leading up to my arrest never warranted me waiting in a cell for 4 hours just to make a no comment interview or say what i did already. I do think taxi touting is fairly serious but not as serious as supplying class A drugs etc... The circumstances of this case were entrapment, simple. As for rapist taxi drivers, I think you will find the most prolific rapist ever in london on the taxi circuit was a black cab driver, by the name of john boynton, who plies his innocent customers with champagne with date rape drug telling them he won the lottery a few days earlier....he raped some 25 known victims....god knows how many unknown ones he escaped justcie from! A rapist will rape wether he has a licence or not round his neck!!! just that with a licence he might think twice!

[churchill123]

Because the charges are not considered serious enough im not entitled to legal aid,
I have spoken to a couple of solicitors briefly, and they both agreed that the charges should not have been brought in the first place. They also said that if it goes to trial, any magistrate worth their salt would dismiss the case, after hopefully the prosecution realise that they will be opening up a whole new can of worms if they proceeded. i.e entrapment, no fares, method of arrest etc....total balls up was the words to describe it.

[David_son]

Please, can you give me details of the court and time for your appearance tomorrow. I would like to attend with you.

[factor-fiction]

You're not hoping churchill123 will give you a lift there though are you, David_son?

[hc4361]

Who would want a total stranger in court with them?
He's probably a Hackney taxi driver.

[churchill123]

I shall be appearing in court tomorrow (wed). I shall keep you posted as to what transpires. Its first hearing so i presume its a case of pleading guilty or not guilty. If not guilty a trial date is set. Then we go from there. I shall speak with a duty solicitor if i get the chance and possibly the court clerk to see what he/she thinks. No harm in canvassing opinions i guess while im there. David_son i would normally be happy to have someone else there but me and strangers are not really what i want now!! look what happened the last time i spoke to a 'lost' stranger

[churchill123]

Just to let you guys know i appeared before magistrates this morning. I pleaded NOT GUILTY and i was given a trail date for 7th december! They said the courts are very busy and that is the earliest they could slot it in. I was originally charged with 2 offences...one for touting, the other for,not having insurance. I was informed by the prosecution this morning that the charge for no insurance has been dropped. I now have a single charge of touing to answer for. I was given brief summary of prosecution documents(the reamainder detailed version will be sent to me). it only has a the police 'witness' statemnt and a 2 line version of the interview which basically said i disagreed with the police officers version of events. I presume this was just a brief summary for the judge if i was to plead guilty today! There is only one witness that will attend court on the 7th dec......the police officer! I cant wait to get my hands on the interview tape and transcript so i can start forming a defence statement. Ive never done this before but i have no choice but to do it....solicitors are charging 700 for a afternoon in court! the judge said it would take no more than hour to conclude the case...take say another 2 hours to read the notes and form questions and travel i think 700 is a bit too steep!....if it was like 200-300 id prob hire one and let him get to the nitty gritty cross examination of the police......because he could have some fun with it too!!!!!