streetcar wrote:
Well tell me what the other cabbie did ? streetcar
Cabbie told to attend anger class after 'slap'
GARETH ROSE
A TAXI driver has been ordered to attend an anger management course after hitting another cabbie in a row over a fare.
Father-of-three Garry Thomson, 42, was also suspended for a month after the clash outside the Caledonian Hotel in Princes Street.
The decision was taken by the police’s cab inspector after Mr Thomson was charged with assault and fined £150 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in connection with the incident.
Mr Thomson today said he was furious about his suspension and had made a complaint to the police.
The row over the fare erupted on a Saturday night last summer in a taxi rank when Mr Thomson, who was at the front of the queue, quoted a group of women £35 for a fare.
He claims the driver behind him offered to take them for £30.
A row ensued and Mr Thomson says he was spat at and in retaliation slapped the other driver through the car window.
Despite pleading guilty to assault at court, Mr Thomson still maintains his innocence.
He thought the matter had been dealt with, until a letter dropped through his door asking him to attend a hearing regarding his operator’s licence.
Evidence had been collated by the cab inspector and passed to the council’s regulatory committee.
Mr Thomson said today: "I never punched him. I’m 16 stone. If I hit someone they stay that way. The council took it upon themselves to suspend me.
"They said I’m not a fit and proper person. They’ve got no criteria, no standard, and they don’t explain how someone becomes a fit and proper person."
Mr Thomson, of Carlyle Gardens, Haddington, has also been told he will have to pay £58 for the anger management training.
"If I was an aggressive or angry person surely there would have been some complaints made against me in the last 15 years."
And Mr Thomson said his record shows that he is fit to drive cabs in the Capital.
He said: "I’ve done about 150,000 jobs and had more than 300,000 people in the back of my cab. Now, for a minor spat, I’ve been suspended. It’s not like I’m a battle-hardened criminal."
Mr Thomson has reported the cab inspector to the police complaints commission. Real Cabforce has written to the council demanding to know the criteria for what constitutes a "fit and proper" taxi driver, and why there is no appeals process against suspensions.
Edinburgh City Council was not able to comment on the case as it was heard in private.
However, a spokeswoman said: "The council's regulatory committee follows procedures outlined by the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. The Act determines that a licence may be suspended under certain conditions, for example, if any activity to which the licence relates results in public nuisance or a threat to public order."
http://news.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=580642005