Taxi Driver Online

This is short but sweet, and for once the result hardly a surprise.


Man who touched 16-year-old girl without consent is denied private hire licence

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glas ... r-28242499

Councillors refused his request after Police Scotland revealed the incident, which had not been declared on his application, had ocurred.

A man who touched a 16-year-old girl without her consent has been blocked from driving a private hire car in Glasgow.

Police Scotland objected to Humed Saleh Idris’ licence bid after routine checks revealed the conviction, which he had not declared on his application.

An officer told the city’s licensing committee that the applicant had been convicted of the sexual offence in 2021, following an incident in Cumbernauld in 2019.

She said Mr Idris “touched” a 16-year-old female “to the buttocks and thigh without her consent”. Police Scotland believed the applicant was “not a fit and proper person to be granted a private hire licence”.

Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the committee, said: “Why should we give you a licence based on what we’ve just heard from Police Scotland?

“You’ve been charged with a sexual offence. You were found guilty of that. What makes you a fit and proper person to be holding a licence in this city?

“Do you think you should be given a licence given the fact that you sexually assaulted a female?”

The applicant said he believed he should receive a licence, but did not explain why he was a safe person to drive people around the city. Councillors decided to refuse his request.

Note the slightly more loaded/tabloidesque headline in the Glasgow Evening Times (identical article by same Local Democracy Service journalist):


Man who touched up 16-year-old blocked from private hire licence

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/sco ... e-licence/

On the other hand, the headline to the top article is slightly loaded by using the word 'girl'. In other circumstances, you'd be accused of 'misogyny' or whatever for using the word 'girl' to refer to someone above the age of consent and old enough to get married (in Scotland at least).

Which might also beg the question, what is the relevance of highlighting the victim's age here? Would the headline be the same if she'd been a 36-year-old?

Or maybe the age of the perp is relevant. But we're not told that. He might have been a teenager when the offence took place, which might change the complexion of things. Or he might have been a pensioner

Maybe the reason he couldn't explain why is simply because he isn't a safe person to drive people about.

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IDFIMH

Not declaring it on the application is a red flag in itself IMO