Spalding taxi company owner calls for tougher punishment in racist passenger

A furious taxi company boss is calling for tough punishment on a passenger who racially abused one of his drivers and urinated in his vehicle.

Mroof Choudry, owner of Royal Taxis, was left disappointed when he received a late night call from one of his employees moments after he had been racially abused by a customer.

Along with the customer allegedly using a racist insult towards the driver, he is also said to have urinated in the back of his taxi.

However, My Choudry claimed that while the police attended the incident, they suggested that the victim accepted costs towards cleaning his taxi rather than pursuing prosecution.

Mr Choudry said: “The problem is that they are tolerating it, not dealing with it. They’re not taking it seriously at all.

“They have actively discouraged us from going to court.

“We aren’t asking for anything special, we are asking for justice.”

“I am very disappointed. They (the police) told us just to accept the £95 and forget about it.

“We work here, we live here and we pay our taxes. I would say 98% of my employees are from the local area and I live and work here too. We do our bit, the police should do theirs. All we are asking for is protection.”

The driver was unable to use his taxi after the incident and has been so traumatised that he no longer wishes to work on weekends, which are typically the most profitable period for taxi drivers.

Lincolnshire Police have confirmed that a 50 year old man was arrested and has been released under investigation.

Mr Choudry said: “If they don’t charge him, I will take it further. I’ll take it to the MP, the Police and Crime Commissioner and even the Prime Minister if I have to.

“Five generations of my family have been racially abused since moving to this country. I even lost my front tooth during a racially aggravated attack.

“People don’t understand what we go through and how much of it we ignore. But how much do we let go? When is this going to stop?

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said: “I can confirm that at 00.13am on May 14, 2022, (Incident 2) we attended an address on New Road in Spalding following a call of a male being racially abusive and aggressive in the back of a taxi.

“A 50-year-old male was arrested for racially aggravated public order and criminal damage.

“The male has been released under investigation and charging advice has been sought from the CPS.

“If anyone is unhappy with our service, I would advise that they visit the complaints section on our website.”