FIT AND PROPER
GLOUCESTERSHIRE FIRM GUILTY OF OPERATING PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLE WITHOUT A LICENCE
A Gloucestershire company has been found guilty of operating vehicles without a licence. Two men have been prosecuted after being reported to Tewkesbury BCl. Victor Whitham, the director of Spa-Tax Taxis, pleaded guilty to operating a PHV that was not
licensed and for using an operator who did not have a PH driver’s licence on Monday 13 November. Hassan Isakhail pleaded guilty to being the driver of the unlicensed vehicle, oper-ating as a PH driver without a licence, and driving without a valid policy of insurance.
Mr Whitham, from Cheltenham, was fined £500, ordered to pay a £200 victim surcharge and costs of £350 costs to the council. Mr Isakhail, also from Cheltenham, was fined £733, ordered to pay a £293 victim surcharge, costs of £250 and given eight penalty points.
DRIVERS REFUSED LICENCES FROM STOCKTON COUNCIL AND THE REASONS WHY
Stockton Council’s licensing committee has considered cases of drivers applying or re-applying for HC/PH licences. It was decided three separate drivers were not “fit and proper” to hold licences due to past allegations according to minutes of their meetings. One driver lost his licence in 2018 after complaints of inappropriate conduct towards female passen- gers. He denied the allegations but the committee decided it was more likely than not “he had taken advantage of vulnerable female
passengers”, a decision upheld by Teesside magistrates. The committee was concerned he hadn’t admitted any wrongdoing and refused his licence application. In the second case, a driver’s licence was suspended in 2020 after his arrest on suspicion of supplying cocaine and a psycho- active substance. It had been alleged he was involved in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Officers found more than 16,000 nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, cannisters in a container rented by
GLASGOW MAN REFUSED PHC LICENCE OVER PUB ATTACK
A man was refused a licence to drive a private hire car after being convicted of assault when he put his friend in a chokehold and slammed his head across a table. Police had objected to Efrem Gebrekristos obtaining the licence in light of his criminal record, telling the licensing committee that he was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence.
50
He was sentenced to carry out unpaid work as part of a community payback order. Committee chair, Cllr Alex Wilson, expressed concern that if Mr Gebrekristos could do that to someone he knows there would be the potential to
use violence
against a member of the public and used his deciding vote to refuse the application.
the driver with his driving licence. Licensing officers were told no further action was taken by police. He had a licence revoked in 2011 due to concerns over his driving, he was given a warning in 2014 and there were two safeguarding and drugs complaints in 2017. The committee revoked his licence. In a third case, a driver was refused a licence because of a 2016 conviction for possessing cannabis with intent to supply. He had been given a six-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months with 120 hours of unpaid work. Ten years hadn’t passed since the end of the sentence which went against council policy. The com- mittee members stated they were not satisfied they would allow people for whom they care to enter a vehicle with the applicant alone and refused the application. Finally, an applicant with a “history of anger outbursts” had a licence revoked in January 2019 and an application refused in September 2022. But the committee granted a licence for the driver, who had taken two courses of anger management sessions.
DECEMBER 2023 PHTM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
