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FIT AND PROPER...


ASHFIELD TAXI DRIVER FINED AND BANNED FOR FLOUTING LICENSING LAWS


A taxi driver who flouted the law by carrying out nearly 200 bookings despite not having a valid licence has been fined £1,582 and banned from driving for 12 months by Chester- field Magistrates. Mr Chaudhry Shoaib Ur Raza from Ashfield had held a licence to drive hackney car- riages and private hire vehicles issued by Bolsover Dis- trict Council, until it


expired on 9 March 2019 as a result of errors with Mr Raza’s application to renew his licence. Despite the council making several attempts to contact him to resolve the prob- lem Mr Raza continued to drive and take bookings. On 30 July 2019, the council con- tacted Mr Raza to remind him that he was not legally permitted to drive his hackney car-


riage as his licence had expired. Mr Raza claimed he was only working in the office and not driving. However, operator records for 11 July 2019 to 12 August 2019 showed that the defendant had undertaken a total of 184 bookings during this period, more than half of which took place after he was warned on 30 July that such activity was unlawful.


BOLTON TAXI DRIVER STRUCK OFF OVER ‘WEIRD’ COMMENTS TO GIRL


A taxi driver has had his licence revoked after act- ing “ weird”


and


making “inappro- priate comments” to a schoolgirl. According to the Lancashire Tele- graph, Bolton Council’s Licensing Committee was told that the man was taking the girl to school in Sep- tember of last year when he began to ask her a number of questions which made her feel un- comfortable. This included ask- ing if she had a boyfriend and if she was sexually active with her


68


boyfriend. When she got to school the child reported the inci- dent to a teacher. The private


hire


driver later con- firmed to the committee that he had made com- ments but he told the councillors he was trying to “stress the impor- tance of focusing on her education”. The hearing was conducted by the Sub-Committee on Sensitive Cases and was not held in public, meaning the name of the driver was not revealed, however minutes from the


hearing have since been made avail- able. Concluding, the committee took into account that many passengers “often travel alone and are vulnerable to inappropriate be- haviour”. The minutes of the meeting added: “The Sub-Commit- tee’s primary duty is of concern for the safety and well- being of the public. There is therefore reasonable cause to revoke the pri- vate


hire drivers


licence with imme- diate effect on the grounds of public safety.”


When interviewed under caution Mr Raza denied com- mitting the of- fences but was unable to provide any explanation for the booking re- cords and acknow- ledged that he was not insured to drive for hire and reward if unli- censed.


Mr Raza was charged in respect of four sample journeys undertak- en on 1, 3, 8 and 11 August, all of


which took place within Derbyshire and on each occa- sion he did not hold a valid licence nor was the vehicle insured as a result. Mr Raza failed to attend both the original and sen- tencing court dates in December and January, but the Council proved him guilty in absence on all eight charges. He was awarded six points for four offences of driving


without insurance, totalling 24 points and a driving dis- qualification for 12 months for the tot- ting up of points. He also received a £300 fine for each offence and had to pay £350.00 costs and £32 victim sur- charge, totalling £1,582. District Judge Taaffe decided to impose no sepa- rate penalties for the offences of driving without a taxi licence.


MELTON MAN CAUGHT WORKING ILLEGALLY FOR SECOND TIME


A Melton man has been convicted for a second time of working as a taxi driver without the required licences. Melton Borough Council said Ed- ward Arthur Holling- worth operated the service illegally earlier last year. The authority re- leased details of the hearing. In a statement, it said: “Edward Ar- thur Hollingworth has been prosecut- ed for a second time by Melton Borough Council for two offences of operating as a taxi driver without a driver’s licence and


without a vehicle licence.


“Mr Hollingworth failed, for the sec- ond time, to respond to the prosecution and was convicted by the Magistrates’ Court in the ab- sence of a plea.” Adele Wylie, the council’s director for governance and regulatory services, said: “The purpose of taxi and private hire licensing is to protect the travel- ling public. “Licensing taxi drivers who are working in our dis- trict help us keep our residents safe. “Members of the


public have a right to expect that the taxis working in our district are properly licensed and that a licensed driver has been found to be a fit and proper person. “This prosecution should send a clear message that the council takes its responsibility seri- ously and will prosecute unli- censed drivers for ignoring the law.” Mmmm… All very laudable for Melton Council to prose- cute this person; however, shouldn’t he have been stopped after the first offence? – Ed.


FEBRUARY 2019


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