TAXI drivers go through vigorous checks before they are licensed to carry passengers.

Those protective safeguards are needed to give confidence to anyone being driven off into the night by a total stranger.

But who is protecting our taxi drivers from their customers?

Over the years we have had to report on a few cases where drunken passengers have attacked or tried to rob cabbies.

But today's story about how hardworking family man Hussain Ali had his livelihood taken away is possibly the most shocking.

Mr Ali was accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger. He says she had changed her mind about where she wanted to be dropped off, so he took her back to the marshals at the city centre rank.

Two days later police told him the 18-year-old had made allegations against him.

He was on police bail without charge, but had to wait more than two months for the case to be officially dropped.

That meant Mr Ali could not earn his living all that time.

Of course, it was in the interests of public safety to take him off the road. But did the inquiry really have to take 70 days?

One way of protecting taxi drivers would be to have CCTV continuously running in the backs of all cabs.

This would deter robbers and help identify passengers who run off without paying.

Mr Ali has come forward to clear his name, but it should be noted that as he never appeared in court, his name has never been published before.

There is a debate at the moment over whether defendants in trials of rape and other sexual assaults should remain anonymous unless convicted.

But it is clear from the case of Mr Ali that word did get out on the grapevine in his community.

This suggests it would be pointless to introduce special protection for defendants in such cases and reinforces our belief that they should be treated like suspects in any other case.

The justice needs to be as open as possible.