Private hire driver left out of pocket after ‘blagging’


A private hire driver who was caught unlawfully picking up a fare off the street has been left £850 out of pocket.

Patrick Kahwa, a driver for Raffles in Milton Keynes, was caught plying for hire on 11th June last year as part of a test purchase operation by taxi licensing enforcement officers from Milton Keynes Council.

The practice – known as ‘blagging’ – is illegal and leaves potential customers at all sorts of risks – not least because it means that in the event of an accident, the vehicle is not correctly insured.

Mr Kahwa, 34, of Ramsons Avenue, Conniburrow, appeared before Milton Keynes Magistrates on Friday, and pleaded guilty to two charges - plying for hire without a licence contrary to Town and Police Clauses Act 1847 and having no insurance in contravention of Road Traffic Act 1998.

He was fined £250 for the offence of plying for hire and given six points on his licence for the insurance offence. He was also ordered to pay £600 prosecution costs to the council.

A taxi licensing spokesperson said: “Private hire drivers can only pick up pre-booked fares – they are not allowed to tout for business on the street in the same way that a Hackney Carriage driver can.

“Where cab drivers are picking up fares from the street, this immediately negates their insurance, which would be disastrous in the event of an accident.”


source: http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/loca ... -1-3759350

Go milton keynes weekend nights and all you see is private hires parked on the ranks and the hackneys have no where to park as prive illigally parking on their ranks touting.

Skyline taxi at the most nearly all their drivers are on road and partly being dangerous aswell as most skyline drivers tend to do double shifts on weekends i know of a few guys who start around 6am Friday morning and finish 4am then back on the road 8am.

Skyline hotspots are mainly outside oceana and xscape go outside those places after midnight weekends and its like the skyline army just waiting around openly asking customers if they want a taxi.

For customer safety and the safety of MK town and other towns and citys something has to be done about thies unlicensed private hires touting so customers feel safe,
It was just a month ago in which a skyline driver raped a customer who wanted a taxi so the driver illigally picked her up and took advantage to stop simular offences from happening again something has to be done

Perhaps the Law Commission would do well to have a few nights out across the country

they should take me....no doubt we'd end up in all manner of shenanagens

I should not you being a respectable member of the NTA

at least the people sent to kill us would remember it

Harsh

they'd have more fun on a night out in Scarborough with me and my mate Sam.......he's an international sheepdog dude ffs

So I believe but that won't show them what ph are doing down in MK now would it and Sam seems a quiet chap, so would he want to spend a night with them?

we have to show them? ffs i thought it was an excuse to go on a raping and pillaging tour

You'd have to have a metal cullender for your head first

Jamais Arriere