A MAN with 17 convictions, including burglary, threatening behaviour and the possession of drugs has been given the green light to become a taxi driver.

Jayantilal Patel’s application for a Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licence was granted for one year by Cheltenham borough licensing committee.

The decision sparked anger among taxi drivers.

Speaking after the meeting, Dave Hemmings, chairman of the Hackney Drivers’ Association in Cheltenham, said: “We’re seething. No one wants to step up to the plate and say ‘No you can’t become a driver because you aren’t fit and proper’.

“It doesn’t do the public image of taxi drivers any good.”

Mr Patel, who was at the meeting, has 17 convictions comprising 28 offences dating from 1989 to 2003. They include going equipped for theft, threatening behaviour, burglary and theft, assault with intent to resist arrest and being drunk and disorderly.

He had told the committee: “I would like the opportunity to become a taxi driver for myself and my future.”

In his report, community enforcement officer Ian Deakins was impressed with Mr Patel’s open manner in discussing his past life and his determination to gain fruitful employment.

He said: “He has obviously matured and shows genuine regret for his past record.”

The last conviction was in June, 2003.

Mr Patel said he had previously worked in a factory and as a postman.

The committee voted to grant his application for one year subject to him successfully completing all other assessments.

The committee also reviewed the Hackney Carriage licence of Akekur Babu Rahman, who has nine penalty points on his licence for three separate fixed penalty offences, two for speeding and one for a defective tyre.

He said he had been caught by speed cameras on two occasions, not doing major speeds with no passengers.

The committee decided his licence should remain in force and that he be required to have a road safety unit driver assessment.

Mark Lewis was given the green light to renew his Private Hire Driver’s Licence, requiring he successfully undertake a similar driver assessment. He has two speeding offences.

Siraj-Eddine Kortbi’s application to renew his Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licence was deferred pending appeal results. He was issued with a fixed penalty notice for a public order offence and fined £80 in March.

The application of Riza Ali Ahmed for a Private Hire Driver’s Licence was withdrawn. He has previous convictions for possession of a Class A drug in 2006, and further conviction for obstructing the police, having no insurance, no driving licence and using a mobile phone while driving.

Original Article: http://www.cheltenham-taxi.co.uk/taxi-news/bad-news-for-the-public-and-cheltenham-taxi-service/

A phrase oft repeated on the ranks and around the offices “There’s Taxi Drivers & There’s Taxi Drivers”

Well This site has been running about four months now and many “Taxi Drivers” have visited and some have left comments and I’ve got to say that most of you have let yourselves and the Trade down. There has been some common sense and there has been a lot of nonsense. Some come here looking for answers some come here to give answers and some come here to stir things up and generally act like children. There is good information here if you bother to look. The JMP report, for instance is full of info on the combined trades of Hackney Carriages and Private Hire and more importantly shows that there are people outside of the trade with our interests at heart but how many visitors to this site have read it? There have been over 42,000 views in general of this site and approximately 20 of those views were on the JMP report. I think it’s a bit sad that you can come here and call each other silly names but can’t be bothered to read something that could be good for your profession. It’s easier to slag someone off because they drive a Berwick Plated car or a Private Hire Car or a Hack but where does that get anyone, for some of the Kiddies it’s a bit of a giggle and if that’s all you want well OK the site is open to anyone,even Numpties but for the Non Numpties don’t be put off by all the Kiddies and their crap! Keep visiting and if you think you have something to say then say it. Every time a new comment comes in the previous one gets moved down a peg and eventually dissappears. A bit like real life. Numpties come and go.

If you want to change things then this is the platform. Stop giving each other grief and shout at your Local Authority a bit,shout at them a lot if you like! Honestly anybody comes here and calls me a ’sad twat’ (which they have) they ain’t changing anything but come here often enough and ask the LA for answers or Lobby them for change has got to be more constructive than mild & not so mild expletives.(Swearing for those that came straight into Taxiing from Nursery School)

There are some that say this is a Hack site & others a Blueline recruitment site. Well it can be anything you want because the visitors are the voice of the site, The site persona ( I know some of these words are unknown to some of you but you will get the drift) What this ‘Sad Twat’ is trying to tell you is that the purpose of this is whatever you want it to be. I pay money to have this site hosted because I thought a place like this was what Taxi Drivers needed. Websites are powerful things,42,000 views in 4 months that’s a lot of power,utilise it! If you want to call people names drive past a Rank and shout out the window! or call a few no jobs into an office but if you want to force change come here!  So, are you Taxi Drivers or Taxi Drivers? 

Peter Cowley, 54, denied smoking inside a smoke-free place when he was parked at a taxi rank in Leyland town centre.

It is believed he is the first taxi driver in the county to successfully defend an allegation of smoking in his vehicle.

The cabbie, from Chadwick Court, Bamber Bridge, had been alleged to have been caught throwing a lit cigarette from a window of his Rover 45 car by a council official.

He was initially hit with a £50 fixed penalty notice by South Ribble Council’s smoke free officer Andrew Cowley, no relation, but he refused to pay.

The bench at South Ribble Magistrates Court in Leyland refused to convict Mr Cowley, telling the hearing there was not enough evidence to support what the council had claimed.

Chairman of the bench Kenneth McDonald said: “There was no evidence that the cigarette had been found outside the taxi.”

He added there was also some dispute over how close the officer was when the cigarette was allegedly thrown.

The court was told during the two-hour hearing how two letters of complaint had been sent to licensing officials about Peter Cowley in March and April this year.

Peter Cowley was approached in the car park of Tesco Extra on Lancastergate, Leyland, on March and reminded he could not smoke in his taxi.

The allegation he had been caught smoking in his cab was made during a second visit to the supermarket car park, in April, after a second letter.

In his evidence, Andrew Cowley said: “At about 12.45pm I went onto the Tesco car park to observe what taxis were doing.

“As I pulled on, 50 metres away from Peter Cowley’s car, I saw him smoking. I know he was smoking because there was a red glow when he inhaled.

“As I approached, Peter Cowley threw the cigarette out of the window. I said I would have to issue a fixed penalty notice and further breaches would have to be dealt with by the magistrates court.”

Andrew Cowley also claims the cabbie said to him: “I have just extinguished your fixed penalty.”

This claim was denied by Peter Cowley, who represented himself in court.

He told the bench: “He has made a mistake. I am not calling Andrew Cowley a liar. He simply made a mistake.”

Prior to the bench’s decision South Ribble Council indicated they would pursue Peter Cowley for prosecution costs of £704 if the case, brought under the Health Act of 2006, was successful.

The maximum penalty for a first offence under this law is a £200 fine.

Neil Rafferty of pro-smoking group Forest said: “It’s completely absurd that this guy was brought to court in the first place. It’s an enormous waste of public money and court time and underlines what a stupid law the smoking ban is.”

Transport chiefs want to ban taxi drivers from sounding their horns outside customers’ homes, but drivers say that could leave them vulnerable to violence. The restriction on private hire and Hackney carriage drivers is the latest in a raft of measures being considered to improve the image of the trade, including introducing dress and behaviour codes and more qualifications for drivers. But today cabbies said the move could put them in danger on some of Preston’s toughest estates, where they would rather stay in their car for personal safety. And one leading taxi operator even declared he would defy the “stupid” ban and refuse to get out of his taxi in some areas. It follows a number of attacks on taxi drivers in recent months, including one who was smashed in the face with a shovel and another who had liquid thrown into his face, burning his eyes. Mick Rooney, who runs Ribbleton Taxis, said: “All it’s doing is putting drivers’ safety at risk and making us an unnecessary target. “They want you to get out of your car and knock on people’s doors at night then, as you’re getting out, somebody comes out from behind a hedge with a baseball bat and robs you. It was only a fortnight ago I had to report to the police about a gang trying to car-jack me at the bottom of Chatsworth Street. “The job is getting more and more dangerous. As soon as you get out of the vehicle you’re at risk. I will continue sounding my horn – I’ll end up in court about it.” But he also said he had started carrying a flash lamp in his car which he shines into people’s homes to let them know he’s outside. And Charlie Oakes, chairman of the Bolton, Bury and Preston Hackney Carriage Association, said: “It’s getting very dangerous out there again and my advice to any driver is don’t get out of your vehicle. “If you’re in a neighbourhood you know is absolutely atrocious, I would support that but if you’re not in that sort of area, just get out of the car and go and knock on the door – it’s just a bit of customer service.” Mark Selley, secretary of Preston Hackney Carriage Association, said: “I wouldn’t advise drivers to pull up outside a house and automatically sound their horn. “You’ve got to put yourself in the position of the neighbours when somebody pulls up outside and does a couple of large blasts on the horn. If a driver’s got any doubts about his safety, maybe he wouldn’t choose to get out of the vehicle but that’s a minority of areas.” The suggestion to ban drivers hooting is part of the council’s draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy for 2009-2012, which is currently out for public consultation. Mike Thorpe, of Preston Council, said anyone breaking the rule would get written advice, followed by a written warning and then called before the taxi sub-committee.

http://www.tapin2taxis.co.uk

We have improved our commenting system as the threads were getting all mixed up and people found theirselves replying to the wrong threads. The new system enables a commenter to directly reply to the comment they are reading thus putting their comment into the correct thread.

Additionally Comments are no longer moderated,meaning your comment will be posted immediately rather than hours later. This causes a slight headache for us as we are putting our trust in commentors that they will not put anything defamatory or racist etc. into their comments. Foul language and various other keywords will still be kept back for moderation (Hopefully) We still retain the ability to delete comments so if anything slips through we will delete it. There is also a new function which enables an automatic email to a commentor when someone replies to their comment,this is set by default but you can disable it by unchecking the box at the bottom of your comment. If anyone has any suggestions for further enhancements to the website and or comments system please let us know and we will look into it. Thanks to everybody for your continued use of this site. Admin

P.S. Childish Comments of no use to anyone except for the children to Giggle at will be Deleted as they are of no use whatsoever!

A BBC presenter has been fired for telling a taxi firm not to send an Asian driver to pick up her daughter.

Sam Mason, 40, told a cab operator: “A guy with a turban on is going to freak her out.”

When her request was refused, she snapped: “You’ve managed it before.” The taxi worker was so outraged she recorded the conversation and passed a copy of it to The Sun.

Full Story Here:The Sun Newspaper

SUSPECTED drugs, a weapon and stolen goods were seized as police swooped on a Tyneside taxi office.

Six men were arrested yesterday afternoon at Central Taxis’ premises in both Nile Street and Railway Terrace, North Shields, as officers searched 25 taxis.

The Chronicle understands one of those in custody being quizzed is the firm’s owner, Graeme Kennedy.

North Tyneside command area officers were involved in the strikes and it is understood North Tyneside council was aware of the operation.

A CID spokesman said: “Six men were arrested yesterday afternoon after police carried out search warrants on suspicion of the handling of stolen goods at Central Taxis in North Shields at both offices, Nile Street and Railway Terrace.

“Two men were arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon. One was bailed and the other cautioned.

Full Story Here:  Nov 12 2008 by Brenda Hickman, Evening Chronicle

I am very confused. I will address this to all taxis drivers/solicitors

1. North Tyneside Council is against Berwick Plates yet they give out contracts knowing they will be carried out with Berwick Plates. Can anyone explain this? There are obviously no problems with their CRB checks?

2. If you read the judgement any operator employing foreign plates will be exempt from prosecution. What’s all that about?

3. Berwick Council sent out a newsletter straight away after the judgement stating that they are going to renew their policy. They also state the judgement has no direct impact on Hackney carriage licenses. Berwick Council does not intend to take any action to permanently terminate any current hackney license. I’m sure Berwick Council will give a copy of this newsletter to anyone who asks. Is it a case of those who have them will keep them!
Incidentally my plate is due for renewal the end of November and I have been told it will be reissued with no problem. Very Confusing!
Reading this website there seems to be only one problem in everyone’s mind and that is Ian shanks at Blueline Taxis. The mans family has been is business for over 50 yrs. He obviously knows a little bit about the industry. Am I to understand that the only people that seem to flimp is Berwick Plates working at Blueline Taxis because that is all I read about constantly on this website. I remember the days when North Tyneside Taxis Companies were advertising £6 from Blyth to Whitley bay and at 18:00 at night they were parked in Blyth waiting to see if they were going to get a set fare. I have also seen on many occasions’ the famous Central Taxis (sorry Graham) dropping off in Blyth on a weekend with their top signs lit up which I consider to be an out of town car as they are in the Blyth Valley and flimp. You can also tell when they flimp because they are always doing 20mph going through Blyth at 24:00hrs trying to find where Plessey Rd is. It does not bother us at Blyth or Cramlington as you are probably well aware we have plenty of work. Is this acceptable? Is it also acceptable that Cramlington are flooded with North Tyneside Taxis offering cheap fares from Cramlington shops to anywhere in Cramlington who have purposely set up business in Dudley etc to muscle in on the Blyth Valley? As for the Newcastle hackney carriages at Central Station bleating on about BLT and Berwick Plates they want to ask themselves why they sit there for hour after hour with no work while Blueline Taxis and Central and many more are in and out all day picking up fares while they are doing nothing. Is it because one minute they are charging £23 to the airport and the next minute they are charging £31 to the airport. Is it when they pick up on a weekend and someone asks to go to Ashington they insist on going onto the West Rd up to the A1 and when the customer says “You are going the long way” the reply is “This is the only way I know” and charge you £50 for the privilege and still keeps a straight face. All sensible people that look on this website will know what I am talking about. I have heard these stories over and over again. This could be the reason for Blueline Taxis getting all the work. You are all complaining the Berwick Plates are taking away all your work but we can’t help it if Joe public are phoning private hire companies rather than getting into the famous hackney carriage which incidentally I also own a hackney carriage of my own so see both sides of the story. It is a bit different for those in Northumberland because if anything does go wrong with the Berwick plates I could go and get a private hire plate for my area within hours. Again everyone with a Berwick plate, if they were honest it is because it is very much cheaper, Councils should feel threatened and start to bring their costs down. Are you also aware that the GMB, the National Taxis Association are taking membership from Berwick Plated Taxis working in North Tyneside and Newcastle and accepting them as Hackney Carriages. Very strange! Obviously they must be willing to fight our corner as they are taking our money. If at sometime everyone does loose their Berwick Plates would that mean that everyone including the airport would lose their plates? Those boys could not replace their hackney plates to carry on working there or will they say the airport is private property. If that was the case I can’t wait to see Blueline Taxis sitting at Central Station with the contract signed and delivered by National Express. Could you imagine? Lets face it they do it at the ferry at North Shields. Anyway these are just my opinions I am no lawyer but there is a bigger can of worms to be opened than worrying about Berwick plates if everything is looked at in detail. We better all keep in with Ian Shanks because if he goes another 50 yrs we might have no choice other than to work for him. Incidentally I used to work for Blueline; unfortunately my own circumstances prevent me from working there now but have taxied for many years, as I have stated I just do not have a Berwick Plate. In my opion Blueline is an outstanding Company and very nice people.

Only sensible people to reply please after all we are only just stating our views.

Download audio file (berwick.MP3)

if admin is willing to publish this post, here are some highlights that matter from my point of view, others will read the judgement and have different points of view,, that is democracy.

It also limits the number of hackney carriage licences it issues, as it is entitled to do under section 16 of the Transport Act 1985 because it is satisfied that there is no significant unmet demand for the services of hackney carriages within the city.
It was thus decided by Parliament, from the outset of the licensing of hackney carriages, that licensing should be dealt with locally rather than nationally. The right to ply for hire is limited, by the licence, to the immediate locality and no right to ply for hire is given for any wider area.

The 1976 Act was adoptive, that is it only applies in those parts of the country where the Act has been adopted. However most authorities have adopted the Act including Berwick and Newcastle.

“the grant of a hackney carriage licence may be refused for the purposes of limiting the number of hackney carriages in respect of which licences are granted, if, but only if, the person authorised to grant licences is satisfied that there is no significant demand for the services of hackney carriages (within the area to which the licence would apply) which is unmet.”
Newcastle use section 16 to limit the number of hackney carriage licences granted but Berwick do not.

In my judgment the major purpose behind the 1847 Act, and indeed the 1976 Act, is the safety of the public by which I include both the travelling public as passengers and other road users. Thus the scheme of the legislation is directed towards having safe vehicles, fit and proper drivers and appropriate conditions of hire.

The fact that Berwick now has a large, but remote, fleet of hackney carriages has had the effect of persuading Berwick that they need to have testing stations over a wide area well removed from Berwick-on-Tweed. Mr. Holland, who appeared before me for Berwick, told me that due to the large number of licences being issued Berwick has a financial surplus which they use in part to pay to have a vehicle on the road in the Tyneside area to keep an eye on their hackney carriages.

MY VIEW IN CAPS, PMSL AT THIS COMMENT… “has a financial surplus which they use in part to etc.”

HERES THE NITTY GRITTY….It seems to me that it must be desirable for an authority issuing licences to hackney carriage to be able to restrict the issuing of those licences to proprietors and drivers which are intending to ply for hire in that authority’s area. Similarly it must be desirable to be able to refuse to issue licences to proprietors and drivers who do not intend to ply for hire, to a material extent, in the area of the licence grantor.
Roll on Xmas, i am skint !!!!