FIT AND
PROPER...FIT AND
DRIVER LOSES APPEAL AFTER TOUTING AT LUTON AIRPORT
A Luton taxi driver who illegally touted for trade at Luton Airport has lost his appeal to regain his dual hackney car- riage and private hire driver’s licence. Luton Today reports that on Monday, November 18, Luton Magistrates’ Court dismissed the ap-
peal by Yaqoob Hussain against the council’s decision to reject the renewal of his licence. Hussain, from Luton, was refused a li- cence on 29 Nov- ember last year due to his continued “dishonest and fraudulent” behav- iour, as well as tout-
ing for business at Luton Airport. Mr Hussain ap- pealed against this decision but Luton Magistrates’ Court found in favour of the council’s deci- sion and the appeal was dismissed. He was ordered to pay the council’s costs of £250.
ROTHERHAM TAXI OWNER’S OPERATOR LICENCE REVOKED
The owner of Rotherham firm Fast 4s taxi service has had his operator licence revoked, fol- lowing a decision by Rotherham Coun- cil’s Licensing Com- mittee. Karamat Hussain’s licence was revoked after investigations by the council’s li- censing team found he had breached a number of licence conditions and that around 21,000 book- ings were undertak- en by vehicles licensed by other authorities. Although the prac- tice of sub-con- tracting is allowed the committee had concerns that the number of sub-con- tracted journeys, combined with his admission to other licence breaches, indicated that Mr Hussain was at- tempting to by-pass Rotherham Coun- cil’s stringent taxi licensing standards. Following his ap- pearance before the
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Sub-Committee, Mr Hussain pleaded guilty at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court in October to charges concerning an unli- censed silver Ford Transit being dis- patched and driven by an unlicensed driver on over 600 separate occasions, between 1 February 2019 and 28 March 2019. Mr Hussain admitted that the journeys were car- ried out without the required licences, safeguarding checks and mechanical vehicle checks being made. During the hearing Mr Hussain also accepted breaching a number of other conditions attached to his private hire operator licence. Rotherham Coun- cil’s Assistant Dir- ector of Community Safety and Street Scene, Tom Smith, said: “Our taxi policy sets a standard that is amongst the high- est in the country and the use of vehi-
cles licensed within another district sig- nificantly undermines the work we’ve done across the borough to improve public safety. Drivers who are licensed by another authority have not undertaken the mandatory as- sessments to the same standard as drivers licensed by Rotherham Council and some vehicles licensed in other areas do not have CCTV installed. “Mr Hussain should be fully aware of the extra measures tak- en by Rotherham Council to secure the safety of people using licensed vehi- cles in the borough and yet he has con- tinued to use vehicles and drivers licensed by other authorities;
an
action which poten- tially exposes the travelling public to risks to their safety.” The revocation is subject to the ap- peal before the Magistrates’ Court.
AYLESBURY TAXI DRIVER FINED FOR DRIVING WITHOUT LICENCE
A taxi driver from Aylesbury has been fined for driving with- out a valid licence. Mohammed Ejaz Sabir, 43, drove a vehicle in Beacons- field displaying a private hire plate issued by Aylesbury Vale DC, which had expired four months
earlier. He appear- ed at Wycombe Magistrates’ Court and was fined over £2,300 after plead- ing guilty. Mr Sabir was also witnessed by a Bucks CC officer transporting children to school as part of a contract on behalf of
an Aylesbury-based private hire compa- ny. Subsequent checks revealed that Mr Sabir did not hold a current private hire driver’s licence, nor did he have authori- sation from BCC to fulfil the school con- tract.
BROMSGROVE DRIVER’S LICENCE SUSPENDED FOR SERIOUS DEFECTS’
‘Serious safety de- fects’ on a taxi’s brake lights and exhaust have led to a Bromsgrove cab- bie’s licence being suspended. According to the Bromsgrove Adver- tiser, the discovery was made on Friday October 18 when officers from Wor-
cestershire Regul- atory Services (WRS) selected passing PHVs and taxis for the inspections. The vehicles were redirected to Broms- grove DC’s nominat- ed testing stations for a safety check. Of the 18 vehicles checked, one was identified as not
being satisfactory and its licence was subsequently sus- pended on safety grounds. The PHV’s brake lights had insuffi- cient illumination, while other issues included a broken suspension coil spring and an unse- cured exhaust.
BANBURY TAXI DRIVER FINED FOR LYING ABOUT CRIMINAL RECORD
A driver has been fined for lying in his application for a taxi licence. According to the Oxford Mail, Abdul Ghafoor, from Banbury, pleaded guilty to making a false statement under LGMPA 1976. Having failed to dis- close his criminal record, he was ordered to pay £1,240, including a £400 fine and £800 of costs. In 2014, Ghafoor had had his taxi licence revoked for assault- ing a school child in his taxi. He reap-
plied in 2016 but was denied because of a history which included two counts of dangerous driv- ing and the assault by beating. In April 2019 he sub- mitted a fresh licence application and stated that he had no prior convic- tions, but an in- vestigation swiftly led to suspicions that he was making a false statement. Cherwell District Councillor Andrew McHugh, executive member with res- ponsibility for li-
censing, said: “Our officers have thor- ough knowledge of what occurs on their patch. Anyone who thinks they can get away with withhold- ing a criminal past will find they have another thing com- ing as this con- viction proves.” The council refuses any application from people convicted of the most serious offences and re- quires proof of ten years’ good behav- iour for those with spent convictions for minor offences.
JANUARY 2020
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