FIT AND PROPER
COUNTY DURHAM PRIVATE HIRE BOSS FINED FOR EMPLOYING UNLICENSED DRIVER
The owner of a County Durham private hire company has been fined for failing to check whether a driver had a licence and for not performing the proper checks before sending him to transport school children daily. According to the Northern Echo, Ian Clydesdale, 59, from Burnopfield, pleaded guilty to knowingly employing a driver without the correct licence, following an investigation by Durham County Council’s enforcement team. In July 2021, the council’s licensing department received information that Burnopfield Private Hire was employ- ing a driver who allegedly didn’t have a
private hire driver’s licence. Checks revealed that the private hire licence of one of the company’s drivers had expired on June 13, 2021. When licensing enforcement officers contacted Clydesdale, as the holder of the business’s operator licence, he told them that the driver had been carrying out school pick-ups and drop-offs on July 9, 2021. At an interview under caution, Clydes- dale stated that he had seen the driver’s badges only from a distance and had not taken copies or noted any expiry dates.
Although the driver in question had
been licensed up until June 13, 2021, he had not submitted a renewal applica- tion for his licence and was not signed up to the DBS check. Clydesdale was unable to provide copies of the company’s booking records when requested, which also breached council policy. During a recent court appearance, magistrates in Peterlee gave Clydes- dale credit for his early guilty plea. He was fined £1,140 and ordered to pay costs of £388, and a £114 victim sur- charge, a total of £1,642. Clydesdale was also issued with six penalty points on his driving licence.
CORNWALL CABBIE LOSES LICENCE AFTER SENDING INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES TO TEENAGER
A taxi driver has lost his hackney car- riage licence after he was found to be sending inappropriate messages to a teenager. Cornwall Council’s miscella- neous licensing committee decided to revoke the licence after being told about what was described as “a serious safeguarding concern”. CornwallLive reports that the minutes of the meeting where the decision was made on February 11 have now been published ahead of the next meeting of the committee. In the documents the identity of the driver is not provided although it states that he was operat- ing in the north Cornwall area. The driver is referred to as E1D164. Councillors decided to revoke the licence after hearing about inappropri- ate messages being sent to a 15-year-old teenager. The driver has not been arrested or prosecuted for any criminal offence. The minutes state: “Members noted that the issues related to a 15-year-old girl and that her parents had raised the issue due to messages they had become aware of that had been sent
APRIL 2022
between E1D164 and the teenager. “Members noted the content of the messages and felt that the behaviour of E1D164 as a professional licensed driver was inappropriate. Members also felt that E1D164’s conduct directly impacted on public safety and that their duty was to protect the public.
“Whilst members noted that E1D164 would not be prosecuted by the police for a criminal offence, on balance, members were satisfied that the con- duct was sufficiently concerning to justify revocation of E1D164’s licence.” The committee agreed to revoke the licence immediately. The driver can appeal at the Magistrates’ Court.
PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER GIVEN “SEVERE WARNING” AFTER GLASGOW CRASH
A private hire driver who was fined after a crash has been given a “severe warning” but held onto his licence. According to the Glasgow Times, Modathir Abdalla failed to give way at a junction and hit another vehicle, with both drivers then taken to hospital. He asked Glasgow City Council to renew his licence for three years but licensing chiefs gave him a restricted one-year extension and warned Mr Abdalla over his future conduct after hearing from Police Scotland.
An officer told the committee how Mr Abdalla had been convicted in 2019 after he drove without due care and attention, failed to give way at a junc- tion and collided with another vehicle causing “extensive damage” to both vehicles. The applicant was given four penalty points on his licence. The driver was given another three points in February 2020 after he stopped his car on a pelican crossing. He said he had been caught after going into a shop to buy water.
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