Taxi Driver Online

Carlisle taxi driver stripped of licence after attacking car


A taxi driver who vandalised a car outside his home has been stripped of his licence just three days after it was issued.

A policeman said he was horrified to find that David John Hickie was being allowed to ferry people around Carlisle.

Hickie obtained his first hackney carriage driver’s licence from the city council on June 27, but three days later he accepted a police caution for criminal damage and possessing cannabis following an incident outside his Petteril Street home on June 30.

A police officer said he could not think of “a worse person” to entrust a taxi licence to.

Hickie, 51, who has lived at Petteril Street, off Warwick Road, for 28 years, told police he vandalised the car parked across the entrance to his garage because he “lost his temper” after being plagued for years by people regularly blocking the entrance.

He had been drinking before vandalising the car. As part of the caution he agreed to pay to repair the damage to the vehicle.

Hickie informed the city council of the caution on July 3 and members of its regulatory panel met on July 30, where they decided to revoke Mr Hickie’s licence.

Councillors heard from Mr Hickie as well as police and licensing officers before unanimously deciding he was not a ‘fit and proper person’ to hold such a licence.

PC Tim Prangnell, in a statement, said: “I must admit to being horrified to discover that Hickie is a taxi driver. I really cannot think of a worse person to be entrusted by the public to transport them safely.”

Accepting police evidence, the councillors ruled that: “The offences were committed very soon after being granted his hackney carriage driver’s licence and showed a disregard for that licence, and the behaviour which would be expected of a driver licensed by Carlisle City Council.”

They also say evidence suggests Mr Hickie was more than an occasional drug user. He had tested positive while at Network Rail previously.

“Possession of cannabis was not consistent with the fitness and propriety required to be a hackney carriage driver,” the panel states. Mr Hickie losing his temper and spray-painting a car were also “not consistent with being fit and proper” to hold such a licence, the panel concluded, adding that they considered that a “calm and event temper was an essential component” of being a taxi driver.

Licensing officers were also concerned and questioned whether Mr Hickie has a “dependency on alcohol”.

The panel was told that Mr Hickie had been the holder of a shotgun certificate until 2013, when his firearms were surrendered following an incident during which he was found drunk with the weapons lying about the house instead of being locked up.

The council has written to inform Mr Hickie of the decision. He has 21 days from receiving the letter to lodge an appeal against the council’s decision at the magistrates’ court in Rickergate.

Mr Hickie, who had no previous conviction when he received the police caution, has not been available for comment.

source: http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/carli ... 1.1155246#

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

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

http://cmis.carlisle.gov.uk/cmis/Meetin ... fault.aspx

got to wonder how this chap got a license in the first place

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

He is probably not one of the good guys......But! There does not appear to be any form on this man who "Lost" it and had/has made reparation. If he worked in a factory/office he would not have lost his job, so why does a non taxi incident cause a loss of employment? The drug issue (I have never taken drugs apart from medicinal in my life) is a class "B", not serious enough to prosecute, but will you "Please take a slap on the wrist", of which he did. Class "B" drugs are probably less harmful than alcohol (yes I do imbibe within reason) that is probably a lot stronger, and without any doubt also a drug, probably the arguable point being.....one is legal & the other is not.

All in all, I believe he has an arguable case.

If he appeals I would not be surprised if he gets his license back.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

In a factory/office he would be under supervision and probably not dealing directly with the public. I'm not surprised his licence was revoked - you can't really have someone who smashes up a car because it's blocking his garage dealing unsupervised with the public. It's not taxi related per se but it relates to road rage and having a short temper. I think that's the real issue, not the drugs.

Bear in mind that this took place only 3 days after he got the licence.

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Sometimes the most telling information comes from what's not said...

why no comments from the police in respect of his application then?

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

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IDFIMH

Are your Council on drugs?

Tbh as I was writing the above examples, in the back of my mind was all of the things that police officers have done and yet managed to keep their job The list is unbelievable, and yet practically every time a taxi driver does something naughty..........it is off with his/her head.


http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... GU&cad=rja

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

I agree.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

That is a very valid point, especially since they're serving police and they would know what evidence is required to convict them, court procedures etc and still manage to get convicted. However does that mean all services should drop their standards accordingly, just because the police can't get their act together? The guy in the story should probably become a policeman.

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Sometimes the most telling information comes from what's not said...

An up to date classic example of the double standards being exacted on taxi drivers.........................


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -free.html




If that had been one of us hung/drawn/quartered, and by the way........take his/her license off of the driver.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

well im certainly glad this chap wont be taking any member of my family home this weekend - as for cabby john - he obviously has different views

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

There are people sitting in the House of Lords who have been to jail for fiddling expenses, some more than £100,000. They kept their jobs. Just because stuff like this goes on, doesn't mean it's right or that everyone should lower themselves to this level. Surely the higher the expectations of conduct from taxi drivers, the more faith the travelling public will have in them. If even a small percentage of the public lost faith in taxi drivers, the impact on the trade would be massive.

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Sometimes the most telling information comes from what's not said...

Real-world calling Ace of Spades ... Real-world calling Ace of Spades... "In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."

Hunter S. Thompson

How about this, it's one rule for them and another for you, and as for the public, they are the sheeple, it has nothing to do with public faith in taxi drivers, it's about ramming the right kind of people (this is you) and claiming that the system works.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"