Taxi Driver Online

Abergavenny man fined for illegally using car as minicab


AN ABERGAVENNY man who has been living in his car for the past three years was found guilty of illegally using it as a minicab.

Stephen Hughes, 54, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of operating as a private hire driver without a license at Abergavenny Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

This followed a sting operation where Gwent Police and Monmouthshire council’s trading standards set up a test purchase in order to catch Hughes out.

On October 16 last year, Hughes picked up two council workers from the Swan Hotel, Abergavenny, and took them to an address at Heol Hamlin, charging them £3 for the journey.

For the local authority, Ioan Gealy said motorists are not allowed to simply act as private hire vehicles or pick up people who flag them down in the street.

He said taxi drivers must apply to the council for permission to operate in certain areas, which in Hughes’ case would have been Abergavenny.

Mr Gealy said: "The police had received intelligence that he was driving around, picking people up, so launched a sting operation."

Trading Standards officers Rachel Calnan and Keith Gardner were given a phone number for Hughes and called him to book a taxi at around 2.30pm.

Mr Gardner said: "He arrived in an unmarked car which had no meter in it. At the end of the journey he said ‘£3 will do me.’"

Hughes denied being the proprietor of a private hire vehicle without a licence and operating a private hire vehicle without a licence.

He was unrepresented in court and despite pleading not guilty challenged none of the evidence. To the bemusement of the bench, he said: "I am very happy with what’s happened here today."

He told the court he uses benefits of £120 a fortnight to pay mainly for fuel and car maintenance. He added: “I’ve been living in my car for three years, but I am removed by the police everywhere I go. I’ve been approached by police on 135 occasions now."

Chairwoman Jennifer Lewis called him "stubborn" for pleading not guilty. Hughes was fined £110, ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £300 costs.

source: http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/g ... r_as_taxi/

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