Councillors dismiss complaint about 'baldy' taxi driver who arrived to hearing with full head of hair

Councillors have dismissed a complaint about a taxi driver after questioning a member of the public’s description of him as “baldy”.

The complainer had contacted South Ayrshire Council’s licensing team to complain about the behaviour of Sean Dempsey in Ayr in November 7.

But councillors spotted a hole in their claim when the taxi driver arrived sporting a full head of hair.

The complainer claimed the driver had accelerated towards them outside Aldi, driving very close to the rear of their car, attempting to undertake them, and repeatedly racing up behind their vehicle when they could not get past.

However, the registration details given by the complainer did not fully match Mr Dempsey’s car, although he later confirmed he had been driving a vehicle with a similar plate on that date.

Licensing officer Donna Scobie outlined the complainer’s statement, saying: “The gentleman in the vehicle had a very short, baldy, stubbled head. This individual was accelerating aggressively, almost rear-ending me outside of Aldi.

“He travelled all the way up Whitletts Road excessively close to the rear of my car, and would weave across the lane constantly.

“He would move over the line to try and undertake and when he couldn’t, he would race up my car’s rear bumper again, which is why I wasn’t able to fully obtain the registration plate.”

Ms Scobie said that although such a complaint would normally merit a warning letter, Mr Dempsey had only been granted a one year taxi licence in September due to concerns about his driving conduct.

She added that because of this, she felt it was appropriate for the panel to deal with the matter directly.

Members were advised that they had the option to suspend or revoke his licence, issue a warning letter, or take no further action.

Mr Dempsey told the panel that ‘nothing had happened’ on November 7 and said that he had spoken to his employer about the allegation and had fitted a dashcam to the taxi to demonstrate that he was carrying out his work responsibly.

Councillors were quick to point out one obvious discrepancy – Mr Dempsey’s hair.

Councillor Martin Kilbride said: “They couldn’t get the right registration number. They couldn’t get the right plate number.

“They described the gentleman, saying he is bald. Well he is certainly not bald and it happened two weeks ago.

“So, I’m not saying it never happened, but we’ve got nothing to prove this here.”

Chair Alan Lamont pointed out that the complainer did not take the opportunity to attend the hearing, where councillors could have questioned them over these discrepancies.

Recently elected Independent, Cllr Wullie Hogg, said: “It is too vague. There is too much innuendo.”

Labour Cllr Ian Cavana told the panel that he viewed the accusation as “hearsay” adding that “there is no evidence to convict this man of anything, in my opinion.”

His party colleague Councillor Duncan Townson welcomed Mr Dempsey’s move to install a dashcam, to make it simple to determine whether or not any incidents occur.

Depute leader Alec Clark said the the evidence was incomplete and said: “Some of it just doesn’t match. How can you say that you can’t get a registration, but you can explicitly see this man has a short, stubbly bald head.”

Pointing toward his own head, Cllr Clark said: “I have one of those, but I’m quite sure this gentleman doesn’t.”

Councillor Lamont joked: “Where were you on November 7?”

Councillor Martin Kilbride said that the panel takes all complaints seriously and considers each one on their own merits. He added that he would like to see complainants attend hearings, allowing members to ask them questions.

After considering the information, councillors agreed unanimously that there was not enough evidence to take action.