FIT AND PROPER SOUTHAMPTON DRIVERS ADMIT ILLEGAL PICK-UPS
Two private hire driv- ers have been caught illegally picking up passengers In Southampton.
Undercover council officers paid for lifts in the early hours with- out making a booking.
Terrence Sheppard, a driver for Streamline Taxis, and Abdirashid Issa, who was driving at the time for Central Shirley Cars, picked up the officers.
Both drivers pleaded guilty at Southampton
Magistrates’ Court to unlawfully plying for hire which also invali- dated their insurance. Mr Sheppard was fined a total of £800 with £115 costs and had six penalty points added to his driving licence.
WORTHING MAN GUILTY OF OPERATING ILLEGALLY
Worthing Council is warning the public to make sure the private hire vehicle they use is legal. Former private hire driver Ian Cole, previ- ously of Worthing, who had his licence removed by the coun- cil in 2006, pleaded guilty by post to oper- ating an unlicensed private hire business in Worthing.
Cole was caught in a “test purchase” opera- tion organised by the
council’s licensing unit, with the assis- tance of Sussex Police, in August 2008. Cole arrived to pick up passengers, despite having had his private hire driver’s licence renewal refused by the borough council in October 2006. Worthing Magistrates’ Court took mitigating circumstances into account, including the fact that Cole had now sold his vehicle. He was fined £100 and
ordered to pay £50 costs, plus a £15 vic- tim surcharge.
Council environmen- tal health manager David Bowen told the Worthing Herald: “If a bogus company or individual operates outside the law, we have no way of estab- lishing if the vehicle is roadworthy, correctly insured or whether the person driving the vehicle is fit and prop- er to carry members of the public.”
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WOLVERHAMPTON DRIVER GIVEN RECORD FINE
A taxi driver who plied for hire in Wolver- hampton twice within weeks was fined more than £1,500 - one of the city’s biggest penalties for the offence.
Javid Hussein Habibzadeh, aged 28, agreed to pick up passengers who flagged him down. He did not realise they were undercover council officers. On October 19, they flagged him down and asked to be taken to Birmingham city cen- tre. At the time he was working for Wednes- field Radio Cars. He agreed, but the offi- cers then revealed their identities. On December 27, Habibzadeh was again flagged down by covert officers who asked to be taken to Penn Fields. At that
time, he was working for ABC Countdown. Last month at Wolver- hampton Magis- trates’ Court he was found guilty, in his absence, of plying for hire, fined £1,575 and ordered to pay £343 costs. He was also given eight penalty points on his licence. Councillor Barry Find- lay, who has responsibility for taxi licensing at Wolver- hampton Council, said: “I’m pleased a substantial fine has been given out. “This is a repeat case so it’s very serious.” He said that such cases put the public at risk because pas- sengers would not be insured on journeys where they had not booked in advance. Habibzadeh was caught plying for hire as part of a council
clampdown on rogue traders. Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Tim Clark said that the fine was “some- thing of a record” handed out during the latest enforce- ment drive.
Chris Harrison, man- ager of Wednesfield Radio Cars, said: “We don’t condone flag- downs. He was totally out of order.”
A spokesman for ABC Countdown said the company had a zero tolerance policy for drivers plying for hire.
The company said that it had sacked a number of drivers pre- viously for similar offences of plying for hire, but insisted that in this case Habibzadeh had left the company of his own accord.
SOUTH SHIELDS BOSS FINED FOR UNLICENSED DRIVER
A taxi boss was fined more than £800 after one of his drivers was caught without a licence or insurance. According to the South Shields Gazette, Express Taxis owner Alan Ashton appeared before South Tyneside Magis- trates’ Court
after
driver Kirpa Singh drove without a valid licence and insurance for seven weeks last year.
Mr Singh, 20, worked as a hackney carriage driver until last year, but he gave up his licence to become a private hire driver for Express Taxis, based in Farnham Road, South Shields. However, the court heard, Singh failed to apply for a private hire licence and, by the time he started his new job, his vehicle insurance had also run out. He was banned for four
months earlier this year.
When the problem was discovered by Town Hall licensing officials, Ashton was quizzed and asked if he kept copies of badges and vehicle details, he replied: “We don’t, no.”
He was then asked if he checked his driv- ers’ insurance details, and said: “We don’t believe in employing anyone who doesn’t fully comply with the law.”
Angus Taylor, prose- cuting on behalf of the council, said: “Mr Singh was on the road without the nec- essary licence, but Mr Ashton failed to comply with the council’s terms and conditions.” Mr Taylor told the court that Ashton had previously had a ver- bal warning, then a written one from the council for similar
problems in recent years.
He said: “Mr Ashton finds himself in this situation now, but it’s not for the first time we’ve had difficulties with this set of circum- stances.”
Representing himself, Ashton told magis- trates: “I was hoodwinked. I try my best to operate a taxi office properly but if drivers are going to be crafty then I’m at their mercy.”
He pleaded guilty to two offences under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provi- sions) Act 1976, including failing to keep a record of insurance and vehicle licence.
Chairman of the Bench Rose Turner fined him £375 for each of the two offences; he was also told to pay costs of £100 and £15 victim surcharge.
PHTM AUGUST 2009
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