An Inverness taxi has spoken out after he was wrongly accused of dangerous driving.
Waqas Butt, 31, had the charges against him thrown out after two Ross-shire midwives gave evidence in his trial at the city’s Sheriff Court yesterday.
Afterwards, Mr Butt, who was also cleared of failing to report an accident, said that the case had threatened his livelihood and cost him a lot of money.
“I am glad it is all over. I was suspended from my job for six weeks, and I had to pay for a lawyer to represent me in front of the Highland Council.
“But I was eventually cleared by them and have returned to work. I will now take legal advice about making a claim against the two passengers who caused this. They said outrageous things about me.”
One of his passengers, 51-year-old Sara Munro, claimed she was a police officer to Mr Butt who had threatened to drive her and her friend, Laura Petrie to a police station in a dispute over the cleaning of his taxi.
The trial heard that Ms Petrie, 34, had been sick in the back of his vehicle as it came off the Kessock Bridge on May 22 last year.
Mrs Munro, who told the court her husband was a police officer, and Ms Petrie had been at a music concert in Inverness. Both denied they were drunk.
After Ms Petrie was sick, Mr Butt of 118 Springfield Gardens, wanted a £75 cleaning fee – but the pair could only muster £40 between them.
Mr MacColl produced a recording of what went on in the taxi between Mrs Munro and Mr Butt as his radio to taxi control was switched on during the row and the exchanges were being recorded.
She could be heard claiming to be a police officer and appeared to refuse to pay for the cleaning, saying: “I don’t think so.”
Asked why she refused to pay by credit card, she replied: “I must have misunderstood him. I can’t imagine why I would refuse to pay.”
Mrs Munro accused Mr Butt of driving away as she got out of the taxi, causing her to fall and injure her knees and elbows.
Ms Petrie claimed the vehicle’s rear tyre went over her foot, knocking her backwards on to the ground and she banged her head.
Mr Butt could be heard on the radio telling his control: “They ran away.”
But after both passengers had given evidence, fiscal depute Karen Smith told Sheriff David Sutherland that she was leading no further evidence and was not seeking a conviction.