Killers, rapists and paedophiles apply to become Merseyside taxi driversKillers, paedophiles and rapists have applied to become taxi drivers in Merseyside. The horrifying criminal pasts of people who wanted a taxi licence were revealed through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) by the Liverpool ECHO.
The shocking crimes people had been convicted of before applying to drive a cab include four counts of rape, 10 of manslaughter and more than 90 convictions for indecent assault - including 18 on girls under the age of 14 - since 2012. There was also someone who had applied with a conviction of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 and data showed 16 convictions outlined on applications for making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child.
The DBS statistics showed that over the last five years more than 9,000 applications were submitted by people with previous convictions. Following this startling discovery every council in Merseyside was sent an FOI to ask how many criminals had applied to be taxi drivers in their borough. The ruling authorities were also asked if any applicants were successful in gaining a taxi licence despite their convictions and what the nature of the convictions for successful applicants were.
West Lancashire and Halton were also included due to the transient nature of the job and every council, apart from Knowsley, replied to the requests with varying degrees of information. Most council responses were very limited, however Sefton Council revealed hundreds of drivers were issued a taxi licence despite criminal convictions between 2014 and 2017.
Previous convictions that were not a bar to driving a cab in the borough include sexual offences, possessing weapons, racially aggravated harassment, drug dealing and drug producing, drink driving and theft. Some of those offences were committed by taxi drivers already working with a Sefton Council badge and the borough’s ruling authority still chose to continue the criminal’s licence.
In Halton the council responded to the FOI to say they could only give “very limited information” because of the laws and how they held the data. They revealed that one applicant who had an assault and threatening behaviour conviction and another who had committed theft were granted a licence. The ECHO understands that both private hire and Hackney carriage drivers across the county had concerns over who was applying for licences.
Drivers voiced their unease over people applying for licences after Knowsley Council scrapped the knowledge test. Those who spoke out over the problem wished did not want to be identified, but said that the fact drivers had no knowledge of their local area was not the only worrying facto. They suggested that knowing you didn’t have to pass the test encouraged anyone to apply.
Among other applications subjected to DBS checks by councils were eight counts of causing death by dangerous, reckless or careless driving. There was also someone who applied who had a conviction for voyeurism or recording a person doing a private act. Thousands of people with convictions for drink driving and driving while disqualified had applied, alongside hundreds convicted of dangerous driving. The figures do not show if applicants with these convictions were given licences.
At minimum, every driver is subject to a DBS check and councils have discretion over whether to disregard previous offences. Final decisions on whether to grant people licences are made by the licensing committee.
A spokesman for the DBS said: “The protection of children and vulnerable groups is of paramount importance and DBS checks are an important tool for informing employment decisions.”
Council responses to FOIs
Liverpool“All drivers undergo an enhanced check through the DBS.
“Records of convictions are not retained by the city council.
“As such we do not hold information relevant to your request.
“Information as regards individual licence holders is considered to be personal data and as such is exempt from disclosure.”
Wirral“Once a licensing decision has been made regarding an applicant any records of convictions are not kept.
“The Licensing Authority therefore does not hold this information.
“It is a matter of public record when an applicant is referred to the Licensing Panel for a decision to grant or refuse a licence and
www.wirral.gov.uk holds details of meetings and committees.
“Although unable to provide details of individual cases I can advise that some applicants who have convictions have been granted licences in accordance with Wirral Council’s Policy and Guidelines relating to the Relevance of Convictions.”
SeftonThe response from Sefton Council was very thorough and answered the questions asked in the FOI as outlined in the piece above.
KnowsleyDid not respond.
St Helens“This data is not held in a format that we are able to extract.
“A manual search of existing records would need to be carried out which would take longer than the 18hrs allowed for this purpose.
West Lancashire“In order to provide you with the information on the scale that you have requested would require to individually examine each record for all issued private hire and hackney carriage driver licences.
“We estimate that it will take us in excess of 18 hours to determine appropriate material and locate, retrieve and extract the information in reference to your request. Therefore, your request will not be processed further.”
Halton“Only information on proposed drivers who fell outside the Councils Relevance of Convictions Policy guidance and who attended before the Councils Regulatory Committee and the applications were determined is available.
“As Regulatory Committee items dealing with such matters are deemed exempt items and therefore not for publication by virtue of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 very limited information can be provided.”
That information is provided in the piece.
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