Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver David Jones fined and faces losing licence

https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/177371 ... g-licence/

ACTING like a taxi driver will cost a former hotel manager more than £1,600 and may lead to him losing his licence to carry fares, York Magistrates Court heard.

David Jones, 51, has a private hire licence which only allows him to carry passengers who have pre-booked his services.

It does not allow him to take fares from people who flag him down in the street.

York magistrates decided, he had picked up an unbooked fare in Low Petergate on October 27 after watching CCTV of the incident and hearing prosecution and defence evidence.

Jones did not give evidence at the trial.

They convicted Jones, of Langholme Drive, York, of plying for hire as a taxi driver without a hackney carriage licence and driving without insurance. He had denied both charges.

They fined him £375 with £1,250 prosecution costs for City of York Council and a £37 statutory surcharge.

They also put six penalty points on his licence, but decided not to disqualify him from driving on the grounds of exceptional hardship.

He now has 12 points on his licence, three of which he got before the offence and three afterwards.

Antony Schiller, for Jones, said the city council will now review whether he should keep his private hire licence.

His car was insured for private hire use, but not for picking up unbooked fares.

Jones had been a Hilton Hotel manager who had had to leave his job after he had a heart attack brought about by work pressure.

He had only been a private hire driver for a matter of months and since the offence had not reoffended. He was self-employed.

Magistrates saw CCTV of a passenger leave Jones’ car immediately before two people approached it and after a conversation got in. The car then drove off.

They also heard there was no record of anyone booking Jones’ car for the time when the two people got in.

“We conclude and are sure the defendant agreed to hire his vehicle to them and therefore find him guilty,” they said.

Headline immediately contradicted by first few words of article - he is a 'taxi driver' yet was fined for 'acting' like one?


So he got three points 'after' the plying for hire offence, yet since plying for hire 'had not reoffended'?

Presumably the three points offence took place before the plying for hire incident, but he only got the three points for it after plying for hire?


Think it might be better all round if he found yet another job

The fella who suggested he join the taxi/PH trade must really f***ing hate him.

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IDFIMH

methinks he's dropped a major clanger by being conned into joining a circuit promised big bucks which mysteriously never get earned

probably decided to walk away from the trade

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

If only the authorities used cctv evidence to catch plying for hire like this but,I suppose it was successful because the guy didn't contest it.the authorities have always had the means but,never the will!

Indeed, but of course presumably someone complained (although that's not stated in the piece) and he was bang to rights with the CCTV evidence - he dropped off then picked up immediately after a short conversation, and no evidence of booking.

Of course, not always such compelling evidence, and the big issue is obviously the willingness of councils to actually take action.

And the one from mid-Sussex the other day looked broadly similar, but not so clear precisely what form the evidence took. But certainly didn't look like a test purchase, or suchlike:

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