A private hire taxi driver is up in arms after being suspended from taxiing for six days after he kissed his two children goodbye outside Pickering Junior School in North Yorkshire.
Suspension without Reason
One Thursday morning 60-year-old Tony Kemp received a phone call from North Yorkshire County Council to advise him that he was being suspended until further notice. When Mr Kemp questioned why, council officers told him they couldn’t disclose the reason.
“They always look out for me and run up for a hug and a kiss when I pull up in my cab.”
Mr Kemp, who is known around the town as a very reputable driver and has been in the trade for over 12-years, was beside himself as to why he had been suspended. Word eventually got back to him that the rumour was that he’d been suspended following an allegation that he was seen kissing two young girls outside a local school.
Mr Kemp said: “That’s when the penny dropped. I take children to school from villages up in the Moors but it wasn’t them I was hugging and kissing – it was my own daughters, ages nine and eleven.
“My girls are taken to the school by their mother. Unfortunately, we’ve separated but they always look out for me and run up for a hug and a kiss when I pull up in my cab.”
Tarnished Reputation
The council left him sweating until the following Tuesday to inform him of the full situation and to allow him to defend himself. Once explaining the situation and proving his innocence, Mr Kemp’s license was reinstated.
“I’ve lost hundreds of pounds worth of business but even worse than that my reputation.”
A worried Mr Kemp fears that the allegation has ruined his reputation and claims that six days off the road has lost him hundreds of pounds.
He commented: “The past six days have been the worst of my life since my father died 35 years ago. I’m personally devastated at the allegation made against me.
“I’ve lost hundreds of pounds worth of business but even worse than that my reputation, which I have built up over twelve years, has been shattered.
“I’m worried about reprisals from people who think I go around kissing school children.”
A council spokesman said, “We’ve followed the child protection procedures. After investigation we found the allegations to be false.”