Taxi Driver Online

Private-hire cab driver Darren Brooks, of Great Sutton, could lose job because of ‘good deed’



Private-hire cab driver Darren Brooks, of Great Sutton, could lose job because of ‘good deed’

A PRIVATE-HIRE cab driver fears he may lose his job after undercover Trading Standards officers caught him breaking the terms of his licence – by driving them just 10 yards without a booking.

Darren Brooks, of Acacia Drive, Great Sutton, faces the possibility of a court summons, eight points on his licence and a £5,000 fine after the sting.

He picked up what he thought were three customers in the cold and rain outside the Woodlands pub in Chester Road, Whitby, on the evening of December 4 claiming he was concerned for their safety and asked them to book the journey with his firm inside his cab.

But, by technically accepting a booking for immediate hire, he breached the terms of his licence and invalidated the insurance on the car.

Mr Brooks said: “I understand they’ve got to have regulations but they need to use some common sense.

“I might lose my job and possibly never get a driver’s job again.”

Trading Standards and police were performing a two-day operation flagging down private-hire vehicles to see if drivers would take them to their destinations without a booking.

Unlike Hackney cabs, private-hire vehicles must be booked in advance through a licensed operator.

His ‘customers’ asked to be taken to Chester so Mr Brooks drove 10 yards down the road then one of the girls booked his taxi and he drove on.

Mr Brooks explained he was then stopped by the police.

He said: “I had blue flashing lights behind me so I pulled in thinking it would overtake me, but I was pulled over by the police. The taxi enforcement officer assured me the insurance wasn’t valid.”

Mr Brooks said his car was taken away and claims he was left on the roadside clutching his belongings close to midnight.

He said he lost out on valuable weekend trade because he could not retrieve his vehicle from Northwich until Monday.

Mr Brooks added: “They were only in the car 20-30 seconds before they made the phone call.

“The taxi enforcer took great pleasure in telling me I was going to get a £3,000-£5,000 fine and six to eight points, which as a taxi driver is crippling. There’s no way I’m going to get insured now.”

Mr Brooks only started driving in June after losing his job in May and piling his redundancy money into training to become a taxi driver.

He is awaiting a court summons in the next eight weeks.

Cheshire West and Chester spokesman Ian Callister said: “This case is currently being dealt with by regulatory services and further comment would be inappropriate.”

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

It must have been a cr@p training company who forgot to explan the law and regulations to him

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Six points if his insurance isn't written in a way that might mean 0 points.

£300 fine at most if he pleads guilty.

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IDFIMH

The guy done wrong...if it was a deliberate tout fair enough, but if his naive Intentions were genuinely to help a bunch wet bedraggled strangers to get home then its the LA jobsworths using entrapment to help take the guys livelihood away from him. Is there no place in this modern world for a little bit of council leeway and cutting this poor man some slack by giving him the benefit of the doubt and just give him a stern warning, what happened commonsense? be different if he were a repeat offender.

Maybe the council had received some complaints about this guy and were out to catch him in the act. I would say that because it was trading standards doing test purchases the same as they do in off licenses it can't be claimed to be entrapment. The story isn't clear if the trading standard people were actually flagging him down or if he just saw what looked like punters and stopped to pick them up. If it is the latter then he is banged to rights and deservedly so.

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Grandad,

Clearly the chap is bang to rights, but I doubt many of us in such a position wouldn't claim that there is an innocent explanation, especially when his future livelihood is at risk.

If it was his first time caught, then I doubt he will lose his license. If I was him I would ask to see the council's enforcement policy.

I doubt a first time offender will find himself in court.

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IDFIMH