Taxi Driver Online

Didn't notice this at the time, and it's not on a conventional news website, but Scottish version of the Mail on Sunday obviously did a big splash on this back in January.

Graphic and article from the excellent Press Reader website:

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-scot ... 3003758676



Image: Press Reader/Scottish Mail on Sunday

Up to HALF drivers have criminal records

Councils overrule police pleas not to grant licences MoS identifies over 2,200 – and it’s tip of the iceberg

The Scottish Mail on Sunday 21 Jan 2018

By Georgia Edkins

THOUSANDS of taxis are being driven by criminals – including killers, violent thugs and sex offenders.

Shockingly, many drivers have been granted taxi licences even though police have warned they pose a serious risk to the public.

An investigation by The Scottish Mail on Sunday unearthed more than 2,200 criminals working behind the wheel of black cabs or private hire cars.

In some parts of the country, more than half of all the registered drivers have criminal convictions.

Among some of the deplorable crimes committed by cab drivers are domestic abuse, indecent exposure, firearms offences, assault and drink-driving. One driver even stabbed a young man to death.

Last year, the Chief Constable sent hundreds of objection letters to councils warning that drivers who were applying for taxi licences were not ‘fit and proper persons’ and posed a serious threat to public safety.

However, our research shows that councils routinely overruled the police warnings. In the past year, in Glasgow alone, the council granted 62 taxi licence applications – despite the objections from Police Scotland. In 1999, 17-year-old Charles Hutcheon was stabbed to death by taxi driver Samuel Docherty, who was then 39. He was given eight years in prison but on his release was allowed to return to work as a cabbie.

Last night, Charles’ sister, Lynda Hutcheon, called on local authorities to toughen up their taxi licensing processes for fear someone else has their family torn apart like hers.

She said: ‘For the councils, it’s like it doesn’t matter what the police say. The police have done the investigation. If the police aren’t getting listened to, why are they involved in the first place? They have to be listened to.

‘Mr brother’s killer and his family are going on as normal. Nothing much has changed for them.

‘But this haunts us every day. My brother was a good boy – he was my baby brother. His death has torn my family apart.’

Charles’s father Alexander said: ‘Councils should toughen up the rules. No one should be allowed to drive a taxi, if they have a conviction for such a serious offence.’

Politicians also condemned council licensing processes and expressed serious concern for public safety.

Tory MSP Annie Wells said: ‘Driving a taxi is a noble profession that carries huge responsibility.

‘No one is saying having any kind of criminal record should automatically exclude people from being able to drive a cab. But the sheer proportion of drivers in some areas who have a record is alarming. It is unacceptable that some of the offences revealed here have not stood in the way of people securing a council licence.’

We asked every one of Scotland’s 32 councils how many licensed taxi drivers had criminal convictions – and for what offences.

In the 12 local authorities where officials provided information, 2,246 drivers had convictions, suggesting that the overall number across Scotland would be even higher. Only a handful of councils provided information on the nature of drivers’ convictions.

Although many convictions were for minor offences such as speeding or driving in bus lanes, an alarming number were much more serious.

One driver licensed by Scottish Borders Council had a record that included assault, forgery and domestic assault – but was still granted a licence. Another had convictions for destroying and damaging property, possessing an offensive weapon, battery and failing to stop when required.

Scottish Borders Council also revealed two drivers with convictions for indecent exposure, four for domestic abuse and four for stealing cars.

In Aberdeenshire, North Ayrshire, Stirling and the Borders, just under half of all working cab drivers have a criminal conviction.

In Aberdeenshire, 899 out of 2,013 licensed taxi and private hire car drivers have a criminal record. In North Ayrshire, there are 288 criminals among 600 licensed cab drivers, while in Stirling the figure is 176 out of 400. In the Borders, 158 of the area’s 431 cabbies have a conviction.

In East Dunbartonshire, more than half of cab drivers have a criminal record, with 480 of 731 licensed drivers holding a conviction. Government

guidelines state councils can grant licences to people with a criminal record – but must decide on a caseby-case basis if a prospective cab driver poses a threat to public safety. Both the authority granting the licence and Police Scotland carry out vetting processes involving UK and overseas criminal record checks. Because taxi driving is deemed a public-facing role, even if a person has a spent conviction, Police Scotland can register an objection to someone being granted a licence if they judge their charge or conviction was serious enough.

However, councils are free to disregard a police objection. In the past year alone, Glasgow City Council has overruled 62 police objections at licensing committee meetings. Last night, the council insisted that public safety is their priority when making any decision on a licence application.

A spokesman added: ‘Licence holders or applicants are fully entitled to make representations on their behalf in response to objections and this information will always be weighed up before a decision is taken. Public safety is always paramount when the committee is considering a case.’

A North Ayrshire Council spokesman said: ‘The safety and wellbeing of the public is of paramount importance and any case where a licence applicant has convictions receives careful consideration by the Licensing Committee.

‘If we feel the safety of the public would be in any way compromised we would not grant the licence.’

Comment

THE case of London cabbie John Worboys, convicted of sex attacks on a string of women and due for release only nine years after his imprisonment, has shocked the nation.

How can it be that such a man – thought by police to be behind many more horrifying crimes than those with which he was charged – can be considered for release so soon?

At least Worboys won’t, upon release, be allowed to return to the job which allowed him to prey for years on vulnerable women.

However, a Scottish Mail on Sunday investigation today reveals that thousands of cabs here are being driven by criminals, including killers and sex offenders.

Warnings from Police Scotland about the risk some of these drivers may pose to the public have been ignored by councils, which have granted licences to some very dangerous individuals. This is completely unacceptable.

Passengers should be confident that, when they book a taxi, they are not being driven by someone with a history of committing the vilest crimes.

Yes, released criminals must be allowed to re-enter society and try to make something of their lives.

But when senior police officers warn they are unsuitable for certain jobs, they must be listened to.

A cabby that killed a youth with a knife allowed to drive a cab.

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IDFIMH

how long ago though ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Quite a long time now, certainly - almost 20 years ago.

But worth recalling that he did four years in jail for the killing, and was back behind the wheel almost immediately after release from prison. So to that extent the council's decision now vindicated, but if it was up to me I don't think I'd be giving someone a badge in such circumstances just five years or so after the incident happened.

However, interesting to compare two earlier articles - one about the original trial in 1999, the other from 2005 after he got his badge back.

So the first piece covering the trial certainly looks better for Docherty, the second less so, and the latter is certainly also more consistent with the coverage from earlier this year.

But, as usual, interesting to compare how different portrayals of the same circumstances can make things sound very different.


30th November 1999

Cabbie killed to protect wife and son

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/122 ... e-and-son/

A taxi driver tackled a group of Buckfast-drinking youths outside his home and stabbed one to death, a court heard yesterday.

Samuel Docherty, 39, described as a hard-working family man, feared for the safety of his wife and son.

After going to their aid, he was beaten up and hit at least 20 times with a beer can by one of four youths, the High Court in Glasgow was told.

Then, dizzy and in a panic, he ran into his house, picked up a seven-inch kitchen knife and plunged it into 17-year-old Charles Hutcheon's side.

Hutcheon, whose main artery was punctured by the blade, died six hours later from his wounds in Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Docherty, of Sutherness Drive, Cranhill, Glasgow, was originally charged with murdering the teenager. But he was jailed for eight years yesterday when he admitted the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Jailing him, Lord Cameron said he had stabbed an unarmed youth to death.

Advocate depute James Drummond Young, QC, prosecuting, said Docherty told police later that he had been ''frantic with worry'' for the safety of his wife and 15-year-old son Paul.

He said: ''The accused and his wife had just returned from a night out in the city centre.

''They saw Paul, and one of the youths taking a kick at the boy as he walked past them.''

Docherty then tackled the gang, but was badly beaten up and went inside for the knife.

Defending, Mr Edgar Prais, QC, said it had been a ''terrible tragedy'' for both the victim and his family and that of the Docherty family.

Mr Prais said the killing took place in the centre of a ''mixed community'' where the Docherty family lived in a small enclave of bought houses surrounded by a deprived council housing estate.

The dead teenager had lived on the other side of the wall in Startpoint Street, said Mr Prais.

He said: ''The builders never finished a wall to separate both communities.''

Mr Prais said the private house owners believed the hole in the wall was used to allow criminals through from where Glasgow's youngest heroin death had occurred.

He said the house owners felt threatened by young people who were drunk, drugged, and carrying weapons.''

Mr Prais said: ''It was against this background that my client acted.''

He said that Docherty had been distraught and guilt-stricken and had been on suicide watch in prison.

Said Mr Prais: ''He was a hard-working man who had achieved something in life for his wife and two children and now he is shattered and remorseful.''

During Mr Prais's plea the dead boy's father shouted out in court, ''What about my son?'' and was ushered outside by court officers.

After the killing a crowd gathered in the street outside and stoned the Docherty house, shouting abuse and spraying it with graffiti, the court heard.

Docherty admitted a charge of stabbing Charles Hutcheon to death with a knife on August 8, 1999, at Sutherness Drive, Glasgow.

Docherty had a blood count of 100 and the deceased boy had a count of 210, the court heard.


2005

Black cab killer

A TAXI driver who stabbed a 17-year-old to death while three times the drink drive limit is back working as a cabbie. Council bosses granted Samuel Docherty, 45, a licence to drive his black cab - despite police objections.

Docherty was charged with murder but served four years after admitting the culpable homicide of Charles Hutcheon. At the time of the killing, he was driving for a private hire firm. After his release from prison, he bought a black cab and works from the rank at Queen Street Station in Glasgow.

His victim's family and justice groups condemned Glasgow City Council for allowing Docherty, who is still on licence for the killing, to drive the taxi. Charles's mum May, 47, said she and husband Alex only found out Docherty was free when a relative got into the killer's cab. The care worker said: 'What if my husband and I had got into the same taxi, imagine the shock for us.

'We were not told by the authorities that Docherty was out of prison. 'I thought you could not get a taxi licence if you had any criminal conviction never mind one for stabbing a man to death. 'Our son was a young man with a bright future which was taken from him. 'We were told by the Procurator Fiscal that they agreed to reduce the charge from murder to culpable homicide because Docherty had only stabbed Charles once.'

Dad Alex, 48, a gardener, said: 'Docherty is not a fit and proper person to be allowed to drive a taxi. 'If you asked the general public, I wonder how many would use a taxi knowing the driver was a convicted killer. 'This man took a young person's life in a fit of rage. Who is to say he won't do it again if he gets into an argument with a passenger. 'Jobs that involve working with the public, like a taxi driver, cannot be open to people with convictions.'

The police check on all taxi drivers when they apply for or renew their taxi licences. A Strathclyde Police source said: 'We did not want this man to get a licence.' A police spokeswoman said: 'The Chief Constable has the power to bring to the attention of the licensing committee any concerns or reservations he may have over applicants. 'However, the final decision to grant a licence lies with the council.'

On the day of the killing, Docherty had argued with youths including Charles outside his home in Cranhill, Glasgow. Docherty picked up a seven-inch knife from his kitchen and ran outside to plunge it into the young warehouseman's side. Charles's main artery was punctured. He died six hours later at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

At the time of the attack, Docherty was three times the drink-driving limit. He admitted his guilt at the High Court in Glasgow in November 1999. Edgar Prais, QC, defending, said the incident on August 8, 1999, had been a 'terrible tragedy' for the victim's family and the Dochertys. But trial judge Lord Cameron said Docherty had stabbed an unarmed youth to death. Charles's elder brother Derek, 25, said: 'This man ran into his home to get the knife that killed my brother. It was premeditated.'

Victims group Search For Justice condemned the decision to give Docherty his licence. Spokesman Les Brown said: 'A man with a conviction for culpable homicide is not a suitable person to drive a taxi.' Conservative Party justice spokeswoman Annabel Goldie said: 'The public need to be reassured that councils are acting in their best interests.'

Last night, a council spokesman said: 'Each case is treated on its own merits. 'If we are told that a person applying for a licence has previous convictions, then the driver would be called before the committee. He would be able to have legal representation and a chance to put his case. 'The council would also examine whether the conviction had any direct bearing on his ability to be a taxi driver.'

Docherty's mother Helen, 70, who lives in Cranhill, defended her son's right to be a taxi driver. She said: 'My son has served his time and is entitled to work as a taxi driver to provide for his family.' Docherty could not be contacted yesterday for comment.

A woman who answered the door of his home in Ballieston, near Glasgow, said no one of that name lived there.

So he was driving a PH, then killed a man, served time in jail, and started driving an HC on release?

That's not the way it's meant to happen

Maybe he couldn't get any PH firms to give him a job when he came out of jail.



Not good, not good at all.

As someone who is prepared to look openly at folks who committed minor offences sometime ago, I would normally look to give a timescale, but a cabby who killed a youth with a knife should never be allowed back in our trade, IMO.

_________________
IDFIMH

That's the bit that really confirms, IMO, he shouldn't be in the trade.

He had time to reflect, albeit a few minutes, yet he still went back to the gang and killed the youth,

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IDFIMH

Came across this, which doesn't seem to be on here, but it's one of the cases in the graphic at the top of the thread.

The article is from late 2017, but it's certainly an interesting one, particularly as regards the vetting angle.


Freed to drive cab, rogue ex-cop who’s ‘serious risk to public’

https://www.pressreader.com/article/281754154591247

Officer had sex with suspect and gave her drugs

The Scottish Mail on Sunday : 5 Nov 2017 : By Georgia Edkins


Image: Scottish Mail on Sunday/Press Reader

A DETECTIVE who had sex with a female suspect after plying her with drugs is now working as a taxi driver in Scotland’s biggest city – despite police branding him ‘a serious threat to public safety’.

Grant McPherson, 37, was jailed in April for four months for what a judge called an ‘utterly deplorable... breach of public trust’.

The married father of one – a former officer with the Metropolitan Police in London – drugged a student and took her to hotels for sex while he was on duty.

He also had sex with the 20-yearold in a police station.

But The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal he has been freed and is driving an Uber cab in Glasgow.

This is despite a direct appeal to the city council from Police Scotland’s Chief Constable, who raised ‘serious concerns for public safety’ and warned that McPherson was not a ‘fit and proper person’ to hold a taxi licence.

Scottish Tory MSP for Glasgow Annie Wells said: ‘It will be of obvious concern to people in Glasgow that such an individual is free to operate as a private hire driver.

‘We need to ensure that all taxi drivers, including those operating on Uber, are subject to stringent checks.’

The revelation comes only two months after authorities in London refused to renew Uber’s operating licence amid public safety fears. Last week, The Scottish Mail on Sunday saw McPherson leaving his flat in Glasgow’s South Side and heading out for shifts in a Ford Mondeo bearing the Uber logo.

His profile on the taxi app identifies him only as Grant.

Born and raised in Scotland, McPherson served with the police for 16 years, as a uniformed officer and a detective constable.

He was jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court in London for misconduct in a public office.

The court heard he gave suspect Jessica Lorenzin, 20, from Albania, his personal mobile number after interviewing her about criminal damage in October 2015.

He received a message from the student once her case was dropped and their chats became intimate.

They were soon meeting at spas for threesomes and had sex at Notting Hill Police Station while McPherson was working.

He then started encouraging the student to take drugs. Ms Lorenzin believed she was being given cocaine but McPherson insisted he gave her only herbal Viagra and so-called ‘legal highs’.

Jailing McPherson, Judge Martyn Zeidman branded his behaviour an ‘utterly deplorable... breach of public trust and confidence’.

All private hire car and taxi drivers in Glasgow, including those with Uber, must have a licence from the council, granted after a vetting process involving UK and overseas criminal record checks.

McPherson applied for a licence in March and it became effective a month later. Council sources said he failed to declare his court case.

In May, police became aware of the application and wrote to the council demanding his licence be revoked. A letter from Chief Constable Phil Gormley states: ‘Mr McPherson is no longer a fit and proper person to hold the licence.’

The letter asks for the ‘immediate suspension’ of the licence and refers to McPherson’s ‘inappropriate and intimate relationship with a suspect’, adding: ‘There are serious concerns for public safety.’

But a panel of councillors at Glasgow City Council disagreed.

A council source said: ‘They listened to what he had to say and on balance they came to the conclusion that this guy was worthy of continuing as a private hire driver.

‘Perhaps if they’d Googled him they might have reached a different decision.’

When McPherson was approached by The Scottish Mail on Sunday last week, he said he was a changed man, adding: ‘I want to live my life honestly and with positivity.

‘I don’t want to go back to that time – it was draining. I was overworked and stressed and I’d just had a little boy. I was just burnt out and drinking a lot. What I did was completely wrong.

‘My life has changed completely, I’m doing a really good job with Uber. I’m doing a lot of stuff now that I wasn’t doing before, working with charities and with people with addiction. I’m trying to move on.’

Glasgow City Council said: ‘Public safety is always paramount when the committee is deliberating on any decision. The licence holder in this case was warned against his future conduct.’

Uber said it was not responsible for carrying out background checks or deciding who receives a licence.

Police Scotland declined to comment further.

OK, so he didn't declare the conviction, but was granted a badge anyway, and then Police Scotland said he should have been suspended because of his past?

Aren't they supposed to do the disclosure checks before granting the badges?

Of course, impossible to tell for sure from the information in the article how precisely Police Scotland only asked for his suspension once he'd been granted a badge, but best guess is that someone somewhere made some sort of procedural error.

So I wonder if that influenced the committee's decision - if they suspended or revoked the badge having granted it, it might have made them look a bit daft

So what would councillors have found on Google that wasn't disclosed to the licensing committee?

Glasgow ! how many threads have we had on here relating to drivers with criminal past getting licensed in glasgow ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Maybe they could all get together and create "Russian Roulette Cabs"..the Taxi company that get's you there Dead or Alive.