FIT AND PROPER


BOLSOVER-LICENSED DRIVER SEES LICENCE REVOKED FOR SPEEDING OFFENCES


A taxi driver has had his licence revoked and ordered to pay Bolsover DC £1,000 in court costs. The defendant, Mr Best, 61, from Rotherham, notified the council in September 2023 of a speeding offence from the previous month. However,


following this, a full


check of the defendant’s DVLA licence revealed he had an addit- ional speeding offence which the council did not have a record of. Mr Best had previously received a written warning for failure to notify in 2020. Failure to notify and notify within a specified time are a


breach of the council’s Taxi Licensing Policy and these facts were also taken into account. Mr Best attended a Licensing Sub- Committee in February 2024 to consider whether he remained a ‘fit and proper’ person. The com- mittee considered the number, type and frequency of speeding offences, which was five since Sep- tember 2014, and noted the last two speeding offences occurred within six-months of each other. In addition, one occurred within the previous six-months of the hearing. The committee voted


unanimously to revoke his licence on the basis that they believed he was no longer fit and proper to drive a taxi, which Mr Best appealed. The appeal was heard at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on 22 May and the Magistrates upheld the council’s decision and awarded £1,000 in costs. Mr Best argued that some of his convictions were ‘spent’, that he was a safe driver and the speeding offences were made in error, but the council rebutted stating that convictions are never ‘spent’ in taxi licensing cases.


ROMANIAN MAN BANNED FOR DRIVING WITHOUT UK LICENCE CAN BE GLASGOW PH DRIVER


A man caught driving without insurance and a UK licence has been given permission to be a private hire driver. Glasgow’s licensing committee approved Samuil Losif Teglas’s application despite an objection from Police Scotland. The com- mittee did issue a warning to the driver, who had been disqualified for six months over the incident. Police Scotland had argued the applicant was “not a fit and proper person to be the holder of a licence” due to his offences. An officer told the committee that Mr Teglas had been pulled over in August 2020. “It was revealed there was no insurance for the vehicle and the applicant only had a Romanian drivers’ licence,” he added. “The vehicle was subsequently seized and uplifted.” The applicant was fined £400 over


PHTM JULY 2024


the incident, given six points and disqualified for six months. He was also fined £200 after police caught him driving while “using a handheld mobile phone” in 2023. Mr Teglas said he had been driving without insurance due to different rules in the UK compared to his home country. He said he had


moved his mobile phone into the door of his car, but wasn’t using it, and the police had seen him. Cllr Jill Pidgeon, and Cllr Sean Ferguson, suggested the appli- cation be refused, but a motion from Cllr Alex Wilson, supported by Cllr Eunis Jassemi, was passed by four votes to two.


DRIVER FINED AFTER WORKING IN RHONDDA CYNON TAF WITHOUT LICENCE


A driver has been ordered to pay nearly £800 after operating in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) without a licence. Liam Downes, of Church Village, was illegally plying for hire in Pontypridd last year and has been hit with fines and costs of £775 having pleaded guilty at Merthyr


Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on May 8. On Sunday, August 13, 2023 in the early hours of the morning, he parked near Pontypridd train station waiting for the public to leave the nearby pubs and clubs. He was approached by a licensing officer and agreed to take them to a drop off point for a fee.


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