Taxi Driver Online

Policewoman charged over Godstone taxi fare

A Surrey policewoman has been charged with making off without payment after a dispute over a taxi fare.

PC Gina Patten, 50, was arrested after the dispute in Godstone High Street on Friday.

Ms Patten, who is based in Reigate, has been suspended from duty while her case goes through the court process, Surrey Police said.

She has been released on police bail and is due to appear at Aldershot Magistrates' Court on 6 March.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-26231803

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

To charge a PC with that offence they must have some very good evidence, maybe even CCTV.

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IDFIMH

Godestone is very small village but does have the A22 run right through it the High street is very small a pub a village shop on the green a resturant and a couple of other shops but not much ,I dont think there is any CCTV but the cab might of had it.You could not do a runner as there is nowhere to run to.It is a up market village . All very odd

My guess is that the PC got a cab to this village and upon arrival she was asked to pay more than she thought the fare should be. So instead of telling the driver that she thought she was being overcharged and getting a receipt for the payment and the drivers details so that she could report the matter to the Council, she decided that she wouldn't pay. She possibly even went into work and told he colleagues how she taught the cab driver a lesson thus confirming that she had made off without payment.

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Grandad,

Godstone also has the Surrey Police M25 centre on its doorstep. Just by the big roundabout.

Even that scenario is a civil matter, for it to be a criminal matter she must have had no intention to pay when she got in, or when she left the vehicle.

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IDFIMH

In my scenario she had no intention of paying at the destination so it is a criminal matter. She left the vehicle without paying. It would seem that she didn't offer any kind of payment.

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Grandad,

Cops normally look after their own. Wonder who she pizzed off?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

I had a fare once, where upon arriving at the destination, she wanted to go into her house for the money. I asked for something as security, and she handed me her custody discharge papers, as she had just been released from the police cells. I then asked if there was someone, I could call that would pay the fair on her behalf, and needless to say, there wasn't.

Next I phoned the police explaining the situation, and quoting her details directly from the custody papers. The police instructed me to bring her to the police station.

Upon my arrival at the station, I pointed to the CCTV, and told her that, if she bolted, it would mean arrest at a later date and being charged with taxi fraud. I opened the doors, and she was gone. And needless to say, some time later, she was arrested and charged.

The case went before the court three times before she was arrested and forced to appear.

However, despite all of this and because she maintained her position of intent to pay the fare, and as there was no evidence, to the contrary. The prosecutor explained that we lacked the necessary two independent forms of corroboration to convict on a charge of taxi fraud, and would I accept the £15 she now offered for the fare.

In short, to secure a conviction, I needed a refusal to pay or an admission of guilt.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

And yet on a different thread we read of a taxi driver who was fined £100 and had 3 points put on their licence because a council officer saw them smoking in a taxi. No independant corroboration or supporting evidence, just the word of one person against the driver.

Wonder what would happen if ten taxi drivers said they saw the council officer smoking in a council vehicle ?

I would assume the driver admitted the offence on the strength of the council officer being a witness.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Not sure about the points.

Maybe they are points issued by the council, as the court hasn't any powers to issue points for smoking.

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IDFIMH

Mmm, might have been using a mobile phone not smoking. Think I was correct about it being a council officer though.