FIT AND PROPER
BOLTON CABBIE SUSPENDED AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF ASSAULT AND CARRYING A HAMMER
A PHV driver has been suspended following allegations of ‘inappropri- ate behaviour’ and that he was ‘carrying a hammer’. According to the Manchester Evening News, the unidentified man was the subject of a licence review by a panel from Bolton Council which heard details of alleged misconduct in relation to him being licensed to drive private hire vehicles. The panel heard the cabbie had received a caution for a public order offence, which he needed to disclose to the council by law. Minutes of the meeting, which was attended by the driver and not held in public, were published recently. They included allegations of an assault on a woman and the man in
question hammering on a wall in frus- tration for up to 20 minutes. A council report of the meeting stated: “There was a complaint from a member of the public about the inappropriate behaviour of the driver and also that he was carrying a hammer. “The driver admitted losing his patience and hammering on the wall but he denied that this action was going on for a period of 20 minutes and he also denied hitting the lady.”
It is not thought the driver was work- ing as a taxi driver when the alleged incident occurred. After hearing evidence about the matter from both the driver and the council, the panel decided to sus-
pend the driver’s licence. They said: “The licence to drive a PHV be suspended for a period of seven weeks on the basis that the committee are not satisfied that the driver is a fit and proper person to hold a licence. “Drivers are in a position of trust and have a duty to conduct themselves in a lawful and professional manner at all times.
“Members of the public entrust their personal safety and wellbeing to pri- vate hire drivers whenever they take a journey. “The committee’s primary duty is of concern for the safety and wellbeing of the public. “There is therefore reasonable cause to suspend the private hire licence.”
FRAUDULENT NORTH YORKSHIRE CABBIE GIVEN THREE MONTHS TO PAY £42K
A taxi driver who kept working, unof- ficially, despite receiving £42,000 in insurance, must pay that sum in a crime proceeds confiscation. The Northern Echo reports that Rod- ney Bell received the overall pay out after claiming he was unable to work due to injuries suffered in a road acci- dent, in 2007. But Durham Crown Court was told council enforcement officers discov- ered Bell was operating an unlicensed taxi in Richmondshire. A joint inquiry between the district council and fraud specialists from the City of London Police led to court proceedings in Durham, last October.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud and received a two-year prison term, suspended for two years, at a
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subsequent sentencing hearing, on November 2. The, now, 53-year-old defendant, from Hawes, was also made subject of a three-month, electronically- monitored 9pm to 7am home curfew, and had to attend 30 rehabilitation activity days with the Probation Service. He returned to court for a crime pro- ceeds hearing, on 4 June when it was agreed his benefit from the crime was £42,310. Peter Sabiston said his available assets were assessed at £194,700, mostly made up of equity in his home, after the mortgage, plus £1,700 savings in a bank account. Recorder Craig Hassall QC, therefore, made a confiscation order for £42,310 to be paid within three
months or the defendant will be at risk of a nine-month prison sentence in default of payment. The recorder told Bell, however, if he is unable to pay the sum in three months his solicitors could apply to the Magistrates’ Court for an exten- sion of up to a further three months. Ismael Uddin, for Bell, said he has applied for a re-mortgage in the hope that he will not have to sell his home. But Recorder Hassall told him that on the expiry of the three months, or six months if an extension is granted, if payment of the £42,310 has still not been made, Bell may have to serve the nine-month sentence and the Crown can seek an enforcement recovery sale of the house from “under” the defendant.
JULY 2021
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