A visually impaired woman from Carmarthen has won a landmark court case against a Cardiff taxi driver who refused to take her in his cab because she has a guide dog.

Janice Powers, 49 from Carmarthen, was left shivering by the roadside in Cardiff Bay, on a rainy night in October, when licensed cabbie Mr Nader Rohbani-Eivazi - banned her from taking her guide dog in his taxi to Cardiff Central Station, so that she could catch a train home.

Janice, who is blind and suffers from arthritis, protested that he was breaking the law by refusing to take her guide dog in the taxi on October 7th 2009,  he said ‘take me to court’, which a determined Janice proceeded to do. Exactly eight months to the day, on June 7th, Cardiff Magistrates found in her favour, after a four hour hearing. 

Mr Rohbani-Eivazi was found guilty of breaking the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 and was fined £415 including legal costs.

Blind organisations are now hailing the court victory as a landmark case, discouraging other inconsiderate taxi drivers from discriminating against people with sight loss.

On the night, Janice and her guide dog Wayne, a 6-year old Labrador retriever, were traveling with colleague, Andrew Hubbard aged 50 and also visually impaired, from Swansea, her twin sister Nadine Brodrick, 49 from Swansea and her sighted guide Rose Casburn-Davies, 48 from Carmarthen.

“We had just been attending the launch of a diversity and equality initiative at the Welsh Assembly and after a bite to eat in the Bay went to the taxi rank at Mermaid Quay to catch a cab to the railway station. It was late and we were cold and wanted to get home, but when approached the lead hackney carriage for a lift the driver just said 'four people but no dog.'

'We were flabbergasted, especially as he had disabled stickers on display, but when we pointed out that he would be breaking the law if he refused to take my guide dog he just said, 'take me to court'.  He wouldn’t have it, we were all so upset, it was late and we were in danger of missing the 10pm train home to West Wales.”

Fortunately the group was able to find a taxi to take them all, including Guide Dog Wayne, to the train station where they just managed to catch their train. 

“As we left the rank, I asked the friendly taxi driver to write down the details of the other driver and he was appalled at the treatment we had received and gave us the information we needed,’ said Janice.

She contacted the Planning and Licensing Office of Cardiff Council who took out an enforcement action against the taxi driver and provided a Council solicitor to take the taxi driver to court.

Janice was also supported in her action by Cardiff Vales and Valleys (formerly Cardiff Institute for the Blind), RNIB Cymru which also offered legal support, and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Sarah Rochira, Director of RNIB Cymru said: “I'm delighted that Janice won this case, there are over 100,000 people in Wales with sight loss, many of whom struggle everyday to lead independent lives; we know that being able to get about independently is one of the most important things that people with sight loss want to be able to do.

We also know that there are many people who face problems such as those experienced by Janice and that is why today’s victory is so important and sends a clear message to people providing services - that they must treat people with respect and dignity."

Janice’s colleague, Andrew Hubbard said: “I am highly delighted with this outcome. Going to court is especially stressful for visually impaired people due to the procedures involved. But this is a brilliant day as more people will now know that it is against the law to discriminate against people with sight loss.”

Carys Henry - Head of Consumer Engagement at Cardiff Vales and Valleys, who accompanied the group in court said:

“We have been working closely with Cardiff Council as the number of complaints against taxi drivers regarding treatment of people with sight loss has increased markedly over the past 18 months, we thank the Council for acting so promptly to take up Janice’s plight.  This is a landmark case which will greatly empower visually impaired people and will be welcomed by sight loss organisations everywhere.”

Her trauma meant that Janice could not face trying to get into a taxi for the eight months that her case took to go to court.  “I felt uncomfortable about trying to get another taxi in case I was refused again, I still don’t know if I will be able to even now.”

Her sister Nadine, who also works for Cardiff Vales and Valleys added: “I think this is a brilliant result. Although this has all been a stressful process for us all, it was worth it as we have shown that we can win in the end.”