FIT AND PROPER
LONDON PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER TO PAY OVER £2,000 FOR ILLEGAL READING FESTIVAL PICK UP
A London-licensed private hire driver, Abdul Mashud from Tower Hamlets, has been fined and received six points on his licence for illegally “plying for hire’ during last year’s Reading Festival. Mashud was caught after he agreed to
take undercover
Reading Council licensing officers to Slough Train Station for an inflated fare of £120. This was done without a pre-booking which voids the vehicle’s insurance. On August 5, 2025, at Reading Magistrates’ court, Mashud was found guilty of both plying for hire
and using a motor vehicle without insurance. He was fined £399, ordered to pay a £160 surcharge, and an additional £1,500 in costs, bringing his total to £2,059. His licence was also endorsed with six penalty points.
STRATFORD TAXI DRIVER SUSPENDED FOR FAILING TO REPORT CONVICTIONS
A taxi driver licensed by Stratford- on-Avon DC has been suspended for 12 weeks by the council’s licensing panel on 23 July 2025, for failing to report three driving convictions to the local authority. The 65-year-old driver had failed to inform the licensing authority of these convictions, which totalled nine penalty points on his licence.
The points were only revealed as part of his application to renew his Dual Driver’s licence and had been incurred between the period of April 2023 to March 2025. The council’s licensing policy states that ‘the proprietor of a licensed vehicle should notify the council in writing of any conviction or caution recorded against him or
of any penalty points incurred within 7 days of such a conviction being imposed.’ The driver was also requested to provide a DVLA share code to the licensing department every 3 months for the duration of the next 18 months, so that his driving licence can be checked for penalty points that may have accrued.
READING PH OPERATOR FINED AFTER ADVERTISING UNINSURED AIRPORT TAXI TRANSFERS ON FACEBOOK
An unlicensed PH operator has been ordered to pay more than £1,400 after he was found to be running an illegal airport transfer service in Reading. In September 2024, Reading Council licensing officers were made aware of a post on Facebook for ‘easy airport transfers from Reading’, by an account in the name of Samuel Szymczyk, offering chauffeur-driven rides to all major London airports. However, there was no record of Mr Szymczyk being licensed by the council to run a private hire firm.
PHTM SEPTEMBER 2025
An officer, acting as a member of the public, booked a journey with Mr Szymczyk to Gatwick Airport in January, for an agreed price of £75. A driver that Mr Szymczyk had arranged arrived at the pick-up point. They did not hold a PH driver’s licence and the vehicle was not licensed for PH work. At Reading Magistrates’ court on 8 August, Mr Szymczyk admitted operating a PHV without an operator’s licence and causing the use of an uninsured motor vehicle. For the first offence magistrates imposed a fine of £400. For the
second, Mr Szymczyk was fined £120 and given six penalty points on his driving licence. He had to pay a victim surcharge of £208, plus £690 towards the prosecution costs, bringing the total he was ordered to pay to £1,418. Lead Councillor for Transport, John Ennis said: “The serious risks posed by unlicensed transport services and the deliberate deception used to promote them will not be tolerated in Reading. Unlicensed drivers are also able to undercut legitimate businesses, which work hard and within the rules.”
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