FIT AND PROPER TWO GLASGOWPH DRIVERS SUSPENDED FOR ILLEGAL PICK UPS
Two PHV drivers have been suspend- ed after they were caught picking up fares illegally in Glasgow. According to the Evening Times, Hus- sein Kawere and Mohammad Riaz were brought before the licensing com- mittee last month after
they were
spotted picking up passengers who had not pre-booked. In March a black cab driver complained that Mr Kawere had pirated his fare. At 4.30am the taxi
driver was negotiat- ing a price when Mr Kawere beeped his horn and beckoned the woman over to his vehicle. She and her friend got in and the vehicle drove off. At the meeting Mr Kawere denied ply- ing for hire and said he had been work- ing the entire time despite not logging any journeys for at least three hours. The committee sus- pended his licence for four weeks. In February Mr Riaz was caught pirating when he picked up a
passenger who had- n’t pre-booked. A price of £30 was agreed between the driver and the cus- tomer. Defending himself Mr Riaz said: “I told him I could only take pre-booked hires and told him to phone my company so I could take him. “I allowed him to make the phone call in the car before driving off with him. I did not want to leave him stranded.” Councillors suspend- ed Mr Riaz’s licence for six weeks.
CAERPHILLY PH FIRM FINED FOR USING UNLICENSED DRIVERS
A Caerphilly-based private hire compa- ny has been fined for using unlicensed taxi drivers follow- ing an investigation by Caerphilly’s Trad- ing Standards team. Fieldston Limited of Machen, and its com- pany director Rich- ard Graham Collins, also of Machen, both pleaded guilty to eight separate of- fences when the case was heard at Cwmbran Magistrates’ Court in August. According to the South Wales Argus, the company plead- ed guilty to offences contrary to the LGMP Act 1976. The of- fences related to operating PHVs be- ing driven by unli- censed drivers, em- ploying unlicensed drivers,
failing to 60
exhibit the ‘taxi plate’ on PHVs and failing to keep records of PH contracts. One of the drivers involved, Raymond Charles Bartlett, of Newport,
also
pleaded guilty to one offence of driv- ing a PHV without having a taxi driver’s licence. The offences came to light after Caer- philly trading stan- dards officers and education transport officers visited a Caerphilly second- ary school. The court fined Field- ston Limited £4,000 and ordered them to pay costs to Trading Standards of £900 and a surcharge of £40. Collins was ordered to pay a fine of £3,200, together with costs to Trading
Standards of £900 and a surcharge of £40. Raymond Bartlett was fined £330, and ordered to pay costs to Trading Stan- dards of £120 and a surcharge of £33. Mmmm… Hopefully amongst the list of offences, “failing to exhibit the ‘taxi plate’ on private hire vehi- cles” was not one of them…? Similarly, the driver who pleaded guilty to one offence of “driving a PHV without having a taxi licence”…? These are the types of reports that - justifiably – incense licence hold- ers
around the
country; the South Wales Echo should get their facts straight. Also one wonders what has happened to the contracts. – Ed.
OUT OF TOWNER PHV DRIVER CAUGHT PLYING FOR HIRE AT ANFIELD
A private hire driver has been forced to pay out more than £1,000 after illegally trying to pick up football fans outside Anfield. Liverpool Council tweeted that a driv- er
from Wolver-
hampton had been in court after being caught illegally ply- ing for hire outside
Liverpool’s stadium. According to the Liverpool Echo, the council’s licensing team said the driver ended up having to pay more than £1,000 in fines and costs after a trial and has collected six penalty points on their driving licence. For years now, there have been com-
plaints of drivers coming from else- where in the UK to Liverpool to try and pick up fares during busy days in the city - particularly around Liverpool matches. The council has been working to clamp down on football fans being targeted by
unscrupulous drivers for years.
PHV DRIVER FINED FOR BLAGGING MILTON KEYNES JOURNEY
A PHV driver has been fined and will have his licence reviewed after he was caught ‘blag- ging’ a journey last year. The MK Citizen reports that Moham- mad Riza Asadi from Bedford ac- cepted
a £10
journey from Stony Stratford to Central Milton Keynes in
October 2018 which had not been pre- booked. At the time Mr Asadi’s vehicle was only insured for pre-booked jour- neys with operator Skyline. Mr Asadi pleaded not guilty but fol- lowing trial was found guilty on August 21, 2019 to plying for hire and driving without valid
motor insurance. He was fined £65 for plying for hire, £195 for no insurance, given six points on his DVLA licence and ordered to pay £650 costs and a £30 victim surcharge. Mr Asadi is licensed by Aylesbury Vale District Council who will now review his licence as a result of this conviction.
BLACKPOOL DRIVER WHO IGNORED ‘STOP’ ORDER HAS BEEN PROSECUTED
A taxi driver who continued to pick up passengers despite being ordered to stop by the council has been prosecut- ed. The Blackpool Gaz- ette reports that Paul Woodhead, 65, from Bispham, had his licence suspend- ed because his car failed its MoT. He repaired the vehicle but “did not comply with the
stop notice require- ment and continued to collect passen- gers in his vehicle, putting customers at risk”, Wyre Coun- cil said. The authority said he also failed to have the car re- inspected so he could have his sus- pension lifted. Woodhead pleaded guilty to breaching the stop notice at Preston Magistrates’
Court and was fined £76. He was also ordered to pay £30 victims’ surcharge, and £186 costs. The case marked the council’s first successful prosecu- tion of a taxi offence using a ‘single jus- tice procedure’ – where minor crimi- nal cases can be decided by magis- trates using the defendant having to appear in court.
OCTOBER 2019
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