FIT AND PROPER
LONDON LICENSED PH DRIVER FINED FOR OPERATING ILLEGALLY AT READING FESTIVAL
A TfL licensed private hire driver has been hit with more than £700 in financial penalties after a covert operation by licensing officers from Reading and South Oxfordshire DCs identified him illegally plying for hire during Reading Festival in August 2024. On 25 August 2024, undercover licensing officers approached
Azmat-Hussain Ali’s vehicle close to the Reading Festival site. He agreed to
take them to
Wokingham, for £15. At Reading Magistrates Court on 28 March 2025, Mr Ali pleaded guilty to plying for hire and using a motor vehicle without insurance. Magistrates credited Mr Ali for his guilty plea and admission of the
offences to officers at the roadside and during interview. They also considered the fact that he had no previous convictions. Mr Ali was fined £240 for plying for hire and operating without insurance, and his driving licence was endorsed with six penalty points. He was ordered to pay £400 costs and £96 victim surcharge.
SOUTH CAMBS PH DRIVER LOSES LICENCE AFTER FAILING TO DECLARE DRIVING OFFENCES
A taxi driver has lost his licence after South Cambs DC successfully defended his appeal in court. Kambiz Akhondi, 59, from Soham, appeared before Peterborough Magistrates who determined he was not a fit and proper person to hold a private hire licence. Mr Akhondi’s appeal against the council was dismissed and the council was awarded £1,182 in costs.
Mr Akhondi first appeared before the council’s Licensing Sub Committee in August 2024 after an application to renew his private hire driver licence was refused as he had not made the council aware of three DVLA speeding endorsements he had received between 2021 and 2022 - which was a condition of his licence. He appealed the decision to the
council’s Licensing Sub Com- mittee where the panel approved the refusal to grant the renewal. Mr Akhondi then appealed the council’s decision at Peterborough Magistrates Court on 10 April. Rob Lewis, Licensing Service Manager, said: “Failing to disclose penalty points is a serious matter, as transparency and trust are fund- amental to the licensing system.”
CHELTENHAM CABBIE LOSES LICENCE OVER BALD TYRES AFTER GOLD CUP CHECK
A taxi driver has been stripped of their licence by Cheltenham BC after a vehicle compliance check revealed dangerously worn tyres in the hours following the Chelten- ham Festival’s Gold Cup. The inspection, conducted in the early hours of Saturday, 15 March, by a council licensing officer and Taxi Compliance Officer at Avon and Somerset Police, found both front tyres to be significantly
PHTM MAY 2025
below the legal tread depth, with one measuring a mere 0.6mm, far below the 1.6mm legal limit. The discovery
prompted an
immediate referral to the council’s Licensing Committee, on 2 April, to review the driver’s licence. Committee members expressed serious concerns regarding the impact of the worn tyres on stopping distances, a history of tyre- related issues during MOT tests, and
the driver’s apparent failure to conduct vehicle safety checks to a level expected of licence holders. The committee decided unanim- ously to revoke the licence. Michelle Bignell, manager of licensing at the council, stressed the importance of daily vehicle checks, stating: “All licence holders should conduct daily checks to ensure that their vehicles are safe to carry members of the public.”
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