Taxi Driver Online

One to make Sussex happy, I Suspect (there's an old joke in there, known to probably only a couple of current people on here And to one or two people who have now passed on ).

Anyway, pretty unusual for police to issue an official news release for stuff like this, I think. And complete with photo.

But I wonder whether it would have worked out better for the PHD here if he'd said that he was the one driving the PHV?

Anyway, the PHD's fate in terms of licensing is unknown as of yet.

(At least, I'm assuming the owner of this vehicle is a PHD - he or she could, of course, be simply a PHV owner and plateholder rather than a PHD badgeholder.)


Taxi warning after unlicenced driver convicted

https://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/n ... convicted/



Driving a taxi without the appropriate licence will result in prosecution, a hefty fine and points on your driving licence.

That's the warning from Nottinghamshire Police after a routine red-light contravention uncovered one such unlicensed driver.

The man had been driving a licensed taxi along the A6005 Nottingham Road, Chilwell, on the afternoon of Sunday 12 April this year when he drove through a red light.

A Notice of Intended Prosecution was then sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle, which was licensed by Ipswich Borough Council.

After the registered keeper informed officers that someone else had been driving at the time, checks were carried out with the council and it was discovered that the nominated driver was not licensed to operate the vehicle.

Ionel-Adrian Sandu, 35, was subsequently charged with driving a private hire vehicle without a licence, driving without insurance and failing to comply with a red-light signal.

Sandu, of Wherstead Road, Ipswich, was tried in his absence at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on 17 September and found guilty of all three offences.

He was fined £660, ordered to pay £200 in costs, a £264 surcharge, and given six penalty points on his driving licence.

PC Jon Dye, of the Nottinghamshire Safety Camera Partnership, said:

"Driving a taxi or other private hire vehicle without a valid licence is a criminal offence that will always lead to prosecution.

"Additional licensing requirements for private hire drivers are in place for a good reason: to keep paying passengers safe from harm.

"Although it remains unclear whether he was carrying a passenger at the time, he still committed an offence and will now face the consequences."

The legal operator of the vehicle may now face additional sanctions from the licensing authority.

So is there no possible criminal sanction against the vehicle owner in terms of allowing an unbadged driver to drive his plated vehicle?