Taxi driver fined for charging Dublin Airport passenger a double fare

A taxi driver has been fined €300 for charging a passenger more than double the standard fare after collecting her from Dublin Airport.

Lee Hennessy of Barnewall Avenue, Dublin, was also ordered to pay another €350 in costs and witness expenses.

He was prosecuted by the National Transport Authority (NTA) at Dublin District Court.

HSE worker Donna Murphy told Judge Anthony Halpin she just came back from London and waited outside Terminal 1.

A taxi arrived 10 minutes later, and she asked the driver to bring her to Ashtown in Dublin 15.

She noticed €27.40 on the meter when she was just under 500 yards from home.

The driver then switched it off without explanation and told her the fare was €44 when he reached her building less than a minute later.

The witness said she thought he told her €24, but “he said no, €44, four-four, I didn’t argue”.

She claimed the driver gave her three blank receipts and told her “to fill in whatever I wanted to”. The meter was still blank, she alleged.

She went into her home and made a complaint. NTA compliance officer Martin Bates told the court he ran a test journey along the same route; the maximum fare should have been some €20.80.

Hennessy had two prior convictions for taxi regulation offences for operating a meter without moving and failing to link his details to a vehicle.