FOI 1138-2025/26- Taxi driver assaults

Request:

Q1a) A count of assault offences where the victim is a taxi driver / private hire driver and the offender is a passenger for the time period between 1 January 2021 to 1 January 2026;

Q2) Please break this down into the types of offence;

Q3) Please also provide outcomes for the above.

Please provide the information in the form of an excel spreadsheet, divided into years.

Response: 

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.

I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police. 

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.

North Yorkshire Police have noted your preference in receiving this information in excel format however, it is our responsibility to protect the personal data and other sensitive information which may be contained within our data sheets. As you may be aware excel data sheets may contain hidden information which may contain personal or sensitive information that, if exposed, could lead to a data breach. It is for this reason we have decided to provide you with the requested information in an alternative format.

Q1 & Q2. A search has been carried out on all assault crimes recorded between 01 January 2021 and 01 January 2026, where the MO Location subtype is ‘taxi’, and occupation description ‘driver’, ‘taxi driver’, or ‘PCV/PSV driver’. These have then been manually reviewed to establish if the victim was the taxi driver/private hire driver and the offender is a passenger/customer. This has then been broken down by crime type. Due to low numbers, I am exempting the yearly breakdown pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please see the exemption explanation below.

Q3. The above, broken down by crime outcome. Due to low numbers, I am exempting the yearly breakdown pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please see the exemption explanation below.

Exemption Explanation

Section 40 – Personal Information

Where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair’ to the data subject.

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair (DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1)).

This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.

In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned. 

Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.