Disabled woman hopes to 'empower other passengers' after legal win against taxi driver

A disabled woman hopes a landmark legal victory against a London taxi driver who started the meter before her wheelchair was loaded will empower other disabled passengers.

Emma Vogelmann, 25, and her PA Laura Creek challenged Thomas McNutt when he set the clock running before lowering the ramp on his cab outside King’s Cross station.

The High Court last month refused his appeal against a criminal conviction for breaching the Equality Act. Even though no money changed hands, Mr Justice Julian Knowles rejected McNutt’s claim that starting the meter was not part of making a “charge”.

Law graduate Ms Vogelmann, a campaigner at Muscular Dystrophy UK, said McNutt had “picked a fight with the wrong person in a wheelchair”. She and Ms Creek refused to travel in his cab and went to the next driver. But McNutt blocked it and police had to be called.

McNutt was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £75 compensation each to Ms Vogelmann and Ms Creek and £1,000 costs by Hendon magistrates in May last year.

Ms Vogelmann, of Willesden, was born with spinal muscular atrophy and requires a ventilator after contracting swine flu in 2009. She said: “This taxi driver tried to charge me for the loading time getting into the taxi in my electric wheelchair. He said he would have done the same for anyone who had luggage. My PA tried to say that my wheelchair wasn’t a suitcase and it wasn’t a choice I had … It’s quite obviously discriminating to charge me more purely because I’m a wheelchair user. I hope this case will empower other disabled people to challenge overcharging in person with the taxi driver or to report it later.”

The High Court ruling was highlighted by Transport for London’s Mike Brown in showing TfL’s determination to ensure equality across the transport network. Since 2015, TfL has prosecuted 55 taxi and minicab drivers for discriminating against disabled passengers.