Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Leah Farrell

Taxi driver used remote control to add €9 onto fares without passenger knowing

He was fined €750 today for doing this 280 times.

A TAXI DRIVER ripped off passengers 280 times by secretly using a remote control to add €9 to fares without their knowledge, a court has heard.

Dublin District Court heard today that the scam unravelled when a tip-off led to one driver, followed by a recall of 206 other taximeters with which the remote device was compatible.

Judge Anthony Halpin said the amount of over-charging could have been “colossal”.

Robert Griffin, 66, of Maplewood Park, Springfield in Tallaght, was fined €750 after he pleaded guilty to 280 counts of over-charging contrary to the Taxi Regulation Act.

He was accused of using a concealed remote control device 20 times a week from 4 February until 10 May this year.

He was prosecuted following an investigation by the National Transport Authority (NTA) which discovered he covertly topped up the final fare on the taximeters.

The increase was added to the final fare on the completion of passengers’ journeys.

NTA inspector Liam Kavanagh told Judge Anthony Halpin that earlier this year he received information that a number of taxis were over-charging passengers using the remote device which was linked to some meters.

A confidential source led him to a taxi rank at Tallaght Hospital where the defendant was sitting in his car, he said.

Kavanagh told the court he carried out a routine inspection and found the remote control device in the driver’s door.

He suspected an offence had been committed and advised Griffin to hand it over.

“He admitted he had used the remote control to add extras to taxi fares,” the inspector said.

He was “visibly shaken” and told the NTA official he was not well.

Kavanagh told Judge Halpin he did not want to cause the driver too much upset at the rank and told him they could meet at the NTA inspection centre the following day, “and leave it until emotions had calmed down”.

Griffin agreed and when he went there his meter was inspected by the taxi metrology service. He was cautioned by the inspector and made full admissions that he used the remote device to add to fares.

Kavanagh explained that Griffin kept the remote fixed to the driver’s door with Velcro and as he drove along he pressed it, increasing the fare by €9 per journey.

The court heard some other drivers who used the device had kept it between their legs.

“The scam, for want of a better word, was closed down,” Kavanagh said.

As a result of specific information, Griffin had been targeted but his co-operation was “key” to the success of the operation, shortening it by a number of months, the court was told.

The NTA was aware of the sources of the devices, the court heard.

“The mind boggles,” remarked Judge Halpin after the facts were presented.

The NTA identified 206 taximeters that were sensitive to the remote, the court was told. They have been recalled for new software.

Not all of the recalled meters were linked to criminal offences but, the inspector added, they were all, “sensitive to this device”.

In pleas for leniency, the defence said Griffin, a grandfather, had heart issues and other health problems which were of grave concern. He did not give evidence or address the court at his hearing today.

He was not currently working and decided because of his health and this case not to operate a taxi, “and does not know if he will ever go back”, his solicitor told the court.

Griffin offered a full apology and accepted full responsibility, the solicitor submitted.

The offence carried a maximum possible fine of €4,000 and there were 280 counts on the summon, the court was told.

Finalising the case, Judge Halpin said the aggravating feature was the over-charging of people and use of the remote to bypass the proper measurement of fares by the taximeter.

Griffin had no prior convictions.

The judge said he was loath to look for intervention of the Probation Service because he did not think Griffin would be able to do community service work, so he was imposing a fine.

One feature that helped the accused in the measurement of the sanction was his co-operation with the NTA, the judge explained.

This allowed 206 other taxis to be checked out.

The court did not have evidence that all of them were involved “but”, Judge Halpin said, “many of them were”. The device deceived people, he also said.

Fining him €750, he noted Griffin’s early guilty plea and he accepted these proceedings gave rise to some of his health problems. He has six months to pay the fine.

Author
View 58 comments
Close
58 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pauric McKenna
    Favourite Pauric McKenna
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:14 PM

    Cringe worthy, self obsessed bull.

    413
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Mc
    Favourite Paul Mc
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:19 PM

    A series back slapping exercise at the expense of the licence payers.

    260
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Mc
    Favourite Paul Mc
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:20 PM

    Oops serious damn fat fingers.

    85
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Lou Tennant
    Favourite Lou Tennant
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:24 PM

    Waterford Whispers would be damn proud if they had written this article.

    192
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Richard Cynical
    Favourite Richard Cynical
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:34 PM

    so all the over paid rt… ejets kept their jobs with more c rap shows

    108
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Lou Tennant
    Favourite Lou Tennant
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:14 PM

    seriously lads, are ye just having a laugh or what?

    184
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave cullen
    Favourite Dave cullen
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:22 PM

    Outrageous salaries for little return,the Rte family marches on unchallenged.
    Does anyone under 40 even watch it anymore?

    111
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute MARK O 'LEARY
    Favourite MARK O 'LEARY
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:38 PM

    My refusal to buy even the cheapest Saorview box to receive RTE means I haven’t seen it since the changeover,do programmes still resemble 80′s American community t.v.?.If there’s a Rugby game I can’t see anywhere else I stick the player on the laptop,otherwise no thanks.

    63
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute brian boru
    Favourite brian boru
    Report
    Aug 14th 2015, 12:24 AM

    I didn’t realise RTE was still going, hope it doesn’t cost too much

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Harbison
    Favourite Joe Harbison
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:17 PM

    i’ve learned that I’m not giving up my Netflix subscription.

    165
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute f m
    Favourite f m
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:33 PM

    And it is literally a crime not to pay for this sh*te !

    116
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Carmel Costello
    Favourite Carmel Costello
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:19 PM

    RTE stands for Ryan Tubrity Ejitt

    115
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank Dowling
    Favourite Frank Dowling
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:44 PM

    good one!

    34
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute james moore
    Favourite james moore
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:37 PM

    They don’t scrimp on snacks because we the public pay for them.
    Same tired auld presenters sure if the show is not working on Saturday we’ll just move to one of the other days sure go wan pick one there’s 6 more.
    Tubs = messi shows how delusional RTE are he has about as much talent for interviewing people as me and I can barely talk at the best of times

    104
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Thomas Hannigan
    Favourite Thomas Hannigan
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:22 PM

    Complete Bollox!

    100
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Padraig Nolan
    Favourite Padraig Nolan
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 10:12 PM

    Hasn’t Brendan O’Connor suffered enough being replaced by bloody Ray D’Arcy without showing that photo ?

    82
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dan Smith
    Favourite Dan Smith
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:37 PM

    Those self-obsessed knob heads above should be put in jail for spewing out such crap instead of us for non-payment of TV license.

    63
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Larry Doyle
    Favourite Larry Doyle
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:32 PM

    Even RT’s dreams are boring.

    62
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joanna O'Shea
    Favourite Joanna O'Shea
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:43 PM

    Looks like D’arcy is giving us the finger as they are laughing about their ridiculous pay checks! Glad I’m abroad and not paying for that crap!

    59
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dec O'Farrell
    Favourite Dec O'Farrell
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:19 PM

    Turgidy is too bland for words, no idea how he came to be the highest-paid ‘artist’ on taxpayer TV – as for the rest of it…..ugh. Just ugh! Actually it’s all ugh, just Turgidy is ughier, if that is possible.

    57
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dennis
    Favourite Dennis
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:00 PM

    Tubridy is more like Falcao. Paid extravagant amounts to embarrass himself on a weekly basis.

    53
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Seth Mcguinness
    Favourite Seth Mcguinness
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:22 PM

    We’ve never learned anything important.

    49
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ripper Murphy
    Favourite Ripper Murphy
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:30 PM

    i learned how to do a handstand before. dat was improtant.

    30
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Seth Mcguinness
    Favourite Seth Mcguinness
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 10:02 PM

    I’ll give you this, even though I don’t know you, and, generally, handstands are not that important, your achievement is much more important than what we’ve learned from RTE.

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Hung So Gud
    Favourite Hung So Gud
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:23 PM

    Just the same old sh*te churned out in another crap version of the same format fronted by the same talentless gimps. Only there because of nepotism and despite no talent have a job for life. Meanwhile to see anything worth watching we all subscribe to sky yet are force to pay the rte tax that is the tv licence. Just scrap the institution altogether and let the publuc vote with their feet.

    44
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute john
    Favourite john
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:18 PM

    Ha did they post a pic of pre-diet Brendan o’Connor on purpose? :)

    35
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ken Fallon
    Favourite Ken Fallon
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:20 PM

    Depressing stuff, the whole thing. And we all have to pay for it.

    30
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Corrigan
    Favourite David Corrigan
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 10:05 PM

    Ah now I see the urgency in sending people to prison over not paying their TV licence – the RTE branded Cookies!!! This bunch of saps can’t be left without their RTE treats!

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Al Ca
    Favourite Al Ca
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:23 PM

    If you seen any of the 50 reruns of every program ever shown by RTE…fear not!…..you can now be bored out of your tree on the internet too with RTE Player….again and again!

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brendan
    Favourite Brendan
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 10:37 PM

    All in all every single one of them are nothing more than cringey rte puppets

    They are all so full of themselves and to think the wages some them are on is outrageous, not only the licence fee but tax payers money as well

    Begs the question who watches such tripe to keep them in jobs in the first place

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute .
    Favourite .
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:40 PM

    Well the nature programmes are good on RTE TV without the BBC budget Apart from that ? Just as well RTE talent never look at the journal

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Martin Gallagher
    Favourite Martin Gallagher
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 11:24 PM

    No 3 “….Ryan Tubridy is our very own Lionel Messi”. More like a cross between Peter Crouch and a ladder, I think?

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Franco
    Favourite Franco
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 10:24 PM

    as soon as ray d’arsy comes on in afternoon i switch!

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan Kennedy
    Favourite Alan Kennedy
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 11:44 PM

    That man makes me cringe.His disgusting laugh and horrible Kildare accent…..and he’s paid massively for it.Disgusting!!

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jho Harris
    Favourite Jho Harris
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 9:44 PM

    Who (I’ll use the word wrote) wrote this article, are we to believe that it is just drivel about more drivel? There are people who could have written this properly for ye, pointed out the pros and cons, oh I know they are not really pros but they are extremely well overpaid, the cons have also been spotted by previous contributors

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ripper Murphy
    Favourite Ripper Murphy
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 8:25 PM

    bascally if ders no kardashans ders no point. rte is no e! and i find it sad da way it tinks it is!

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan Kennedy
    Favourite Alan Kennedy
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 11:40 PM

    Any judge on planet earth would excuse me but paying my TV licence.In fact maybe I could sue.Repulsive,RTE!!

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kathleen Kavanagh
    Favourite Kathleen Kavanagh
    Report
    Aug 13th 2015, 11:57 PM

    Looking good Guys – Good Luck !

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Integra-Ted
    Favourite Integra-Ted
    Report
    Aug 14th 2015, 10:27 AM

    I hearby refuse to pay my T.V licence renewal and henceforth accept 10 years hard labour at Spike Island prison, but please do not make me pay for the likes of this shower of talentless wasters!

    2
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds