Cab driver says good character used against him in ‘cruel sting operation’
Bristol taxi driver Joshua Mannah says he was the victim of a stitch-up (credit: Stefano Ferrarin)
Parked in his cab near Southmead Hospital, taxi driver Joshua Mannah is startled when a man raps on his window and hurriedly explains that he needs a lift home, so his child isn’t left alone too long.
Despite Joshua emphasising that it’s illegal for him to pick up passengers who haven’t pre-booked, recognising the man’s desperation, he says, eventually he agrees a fee and takes him.
All of this, for what, because I helped someone out in a ‘desperate situation?
Along the way he’s pulled over by police, and slapped with six points on his licence for driving a vehicle uninsured against third party risks. The whole thing is a stitch-up, Joshua says.
While he admits what he did was illegal, he says it was “unfair and cruel” for a plainclothes police officer to use tactics that played on his good character. And the so-called “sting” has had lasting financial consequences.
The 55-year-old dad, who lives in Fishponds with his wife and 12-year-old daughter and has driven cabs in Bristol for about 25 years, had a clean record before the incident, which he calls a “complete one-off”.
The alleged incident happened in July 2020, when Covid restrictions meant cabbies were struggling. And the penalty, Joshua says, meant he couldn’t work for some companies operating in the city.
“My debts have just mounted [as a result],” Joshua tells the Cable. He says he’s lost as much as £700 a month in income, and been unable to keep up with mortgage repayments. Three years on, he’s demanding answers from the police.
Financial hardship
Avon and Somerset Police says there is no evidence that the plainclothes officer used these tactics and that at no point made a formal complaint. However, the force did say that it works with Bristol City Council to check private hire drivers are picking up passengers legally.
One method it uses is ‘test purchasing’ – where undercover officers ask for a lift without a booking.
A spokesperson for the force said the rules around these practices are strict and procedures are in place to protect drivers’ rights, adding: “Officers are not allowed to encourage, mislead or persuade drivers to take them.”
According to bodycam footage of Joshua speaking to an officer after being pulled over, they added, the taxi driver did not explain he had been encouraged by the ‘passenger’.
The moment Joshua picked up the undercover officer was not filmed, they said, because the person involved did not have a “direct surveillance order” allowing them to film Joshua unknowingly.
According to minutes of a Bristol City Council public safety and protection sub-committee meeting in which Joshua’s case was heard, the driver told officers his passenger was a “friend” – before admitting that this was untrue.
No mention is made of Joshua’s claim that he was encouraged by the undercover officer with a story about his need to get home to his child, but Joshua says the hearing was “20 minutes” and he was unaware he could appeal.
The incident happened after three months of lockdown. Joshua had been off the road due to Covid restrictions, the council meeting in August 2020 heard, causing him and his family “financial hardship”.
He was overdue on car payments and had to take a mortgage holiday, councillors were told. This, Joshua says, might have been why they “took pity” and did not suspend his taxi licence for six months as they could have.
“I didn’t deny I took him,” Joshua tells the Cable, audibly upset after explaining that he’s still feeling the financial impact of the decision. “I said it was a one-off, that I was compelled to do it on humanitarian grounds.”
‘Something has to change’
To add insult to injury, Joshua says that in December 2022 complications getting his taxi licence renewed by Bristol City Council meant he was unable to work for a week.
“I tried calling and calling, trying to get it sorted, but there is nobody there to communicate with,” Joshua says. “On the phone most of the time it’s an automated voice. Everything is mostly over email or online.”
He says other drivers he knows have been out of work for weeks, even months, due to delays with their licences being renewed in recent years. Some, he adds, have stopped trying and got a taxi licence with South Gloucestershire Council, where he says the process is far smoother.
“You’re left in suspense, not knowing if you’re going to get your badge or plates renewed,” Joshua says. “[The process] needs to be fixed, and it won’t if nobody is taking ownership or responsibility for the problem.”
A spokesperson for the council said the authority is working to improve the processing time by hiring and training temporary staff.
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