Man who picked up woman in fake taxi ‘lucky’ not be jailed

A Dublin man who continued operating a taxi after he was banned from driving is lucky he is not going to jail, a judge said on Wednesday.

Trevor Johnson (38) of Gortmore Avenue in Finglas pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to charges under the Taxi Regulation Act for unlawfully operating a taxi while suspended, having no driving licence, no motor tax or insurance and not having a Public Service Vehicle licence.

Judge Grainne O'Neill heard that Johnson was arrested at 10.25pm on the night of March 4th at Bride Street in Dublin 8. Garda Damien Duffy said he stopped the 07-reg silver Skoda. A young woman, who thought it was a legitimate taxi, was sitting in the back seat.

The garda said the car appeared to be a taxi and had a number on the roof and a corresponding number on a door panel, but a window sticker which a taxi should have was missing.

Garda Duffy said Johnson had been a taxi driver until last year and the car had previously been registered as a taxi.

Judge O’Neill asked if there was anything else at play in the case and the garda said there was not, but he could understand why that assumption could be made. He said extensive enquiries were carried out and gardaí had no reason to doubt this was purely to assist the man’s finances.

He had a previous conviction, in 2015, for driving without insurance which resulted in a two-year road ban. Defence solicitor Noelle Kenny said her client was €60,000 in arrears with his house repayments. The defence lawyer said he is attending counselling for depression and has a young child.

Judge O’Neill accepted he had financial difficulties, but she added so did others and he had broken a court order and was also carrying a passenger while uninsured. She said he should thank his solicitor and a fair garda that he was not going to jail.

She fined him €600 and adjourned the case until May 25th for a probation report on his suitability to carry out 100 hours’ community service in lieu of a three-month jail sentence.