IN THE NEWS
JERSEY MAN CLEARED OF RUNNING TAXI SERVICE WHILE USING PROVISIONAL DRIVING LICENCE
A man who used the Jersey Lifts Facebook group to transport passengers has been cleared of operating an illegal taxi service. Lughano Mogha, 39, was stopped by States police officers twice in 2023. Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, said that on 8 July he was found with four passengers in the back seat that only had space for three, and was using a provisional driving licence. The second time Mogha was
stopped, in the early hours of 26 November, one of the passengers pretended to know the driver before admitting he had been using Jersey Lifts. By this point, Mogha had a full driving licence. Mogha pleaded guilty to driving on a provisional licence without super- vision and overloading his car, but denied operating an illegal taxi service. During the trial, Advocate Taylor said that it would make “no
STOCKTON CABBIE LOSES LICENCE DESPITE NO POLICE ACTION
A driver once investigated over sexual harassment and grooming allegations has lost his private hire licence as councillors were not satisfied with his explanations. Police had taken no further action, however, a Stockton Council com- mittee did not believe him to be a “fit and proper person” to hold a combined HC/PHV driver’s licence. He was investigated by police several years ago over alleged grooming of a child passenger, according to minutes of a licensing committee meeting. He told licensing officers he “did not groom her in that way”. But the licensing committee “did not feel the driver was credible in response to their questioning” and found his “lack of insight into his inapprop- riate behaviour concerning”. More recently, the driver’s HC/PH licence was suspended while he was under another investigation by Cleveland Police. The minutes say he had renewed his licence
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without telling authorities of this. Officers had looked into his mobile phone use while investigating sexual harassment and malicious communications. No further action was taken as they were unable to
prove any offence
beyond reasonable doubt. He told councillors he didn’t know of the malicious communications or who had made the complaint. His licence had previously been suspended and revoked, he was given written warnings and had nine points on his licence for failing to give driver information. The licensing committee said it was “not satisfied they would allow people for whom they care to enter a vehicle with the driver due to their doubts over his explanation of the circumstances. They felt this was compounded by [his] concern- ing history as a licensed driver.” The committee was “unanimously satisfied” his HC/PHV driver’s licence should be revoked.
financial sense” to offer lifts with- out prior arrangements for pas- sengers to pay, adding: “It is not believable. Why was he giving people lifts? In the hope that someone would pay him?” Mogha responded: “No, that’s not true. I was operating the way Jersey Lifts operates. I was doing it the way everyone else does it.” Jersey Lifts was a community, the defendant argued, where people paid whatever amount they felt they owed the driver. Advocate Greg Herold-Howes, defending, argued that for Mogha to be liable, he would have needed to have a financial agreement in place and make a profit, and that there was no evidence of an existing agreement. He pointed out that officers had not kept Mogha’s phone to search for unsent Facebook messages and that legitimate ride-sharing, where passengers contribute to the cost of a trip, was legal. One of the passengers who was in Mogha’s car in November told the court that he had met Mogha via the “Jersey Lifts 2.0” Facebook page – but that he could not remember whether there had been a financial agreement, either ahead of time on Facebook or verbally in the car. He did, however, say he would normally expect to pay around £10 for a Jersey Lifts ride. Magistrate Bridget Shaw found Mogha not guilty of the two charges of operating an illegal taxi following a one-day trial. She fined him £600 for each of the two charges to which he pleaded guilty, to be paid within two months.
JULY 2024 PHTM
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