Another potentially kangaroo court scenario.
Not saying that councillors weren't right, but I just tend not to have faith in these processes
Taxi driver has licence revoked by Cornwall Council after sending 'inappropriate' messages to teenagerhttps://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornw ... ll-6728647Cornwall Council's licensing committee has also revoked the licence of another driver after they were arrested for 'extremely serious' allegationsA taxi driver has lost their Hackney carriage licence after he was found to be sending inappropriate messages to a teenager.
Cornwall Council’s miscellaneous licensing committee decided to revoke the licence after being told about what was described as “a serious safeguarding concern”.
The minutes of the meeting where the decision was made on February 11 have just been published ahead of the next meeting of the committee.
In the documents the identity of the driver is not provided although it states that he was operating in the north Cornwall area. The driver is referred to as E1D164.
Councillors decided to revoke the licence after hearing about inappropriate messages being sent to a 15-year-old child. The driver has not been arrested or prosecuted for any criminal offence.
The minutes state: “Members noted that this review had been brought before the committee due to information being received from the Cornwall Council’s transport coordination service regarding a serious safeguarding concern.
“Members noted that the issues related to a 15-year-old child and that the child’s parents had raised the issue due to messages they had become aware of that had been sent between E1D164 and the child.
“Members noted the content of the messages and felt that the behaviour of E1D164 as a professional licensed driver was inappropriate. Members also felt that E1D164’s conduct directly impacted on public safety and that their duty was to protect the public.
“Whilst members noted that E1D164 would not be prosecuted by the police for a criminal offence, on balance, members were satisfied that E1D164’s conduct was sufficiently concerning to justify revocation of E1D164’s licence.”
The committee agreed to revoke the licence immediately. The driver does have the right to appeal the decision through the magistrates’ court.
At a separate Miscellaneous Licensing Committee meeting on February 1 another driver also had their licence revoked after being arrested by the police.
The driver, identified as CD219, had a Hackney carriage licence for the Restormel area - including St Austell and surrounds - as well as a private hire licence.
No information is provided about the nature of the offence for which the driver was arrested other than to state that “the allegations were extremely serious”.
The minutes of the meeting state: “Members noted the content of the disclosure from Devon and Cornwall Police and felt that the allegations were extremely serious. Members also felt that the allegations directly impacted on public safety and that their duty was to protect the public.
“Whilst CD219 had not been convicted, on balance, members were satisfied that the allegations were sufficient to justify revocation of CD219’s licence.”
The minutes add: “Members also noted the bail conditions that CD219 had been released under and felt that these would mean that he would not be able to perform the role of a taxi driver and provide an appropriate service to the public.
“Members heard from CD219 and noted that he was not currently working as a taxi driver. The driver did not dispute that what was alleged happened however, did give an explanation as to the alleged offending.
“Members applied the test of whether they would be happy for a person they cared about or a vulnerable person to travel alone in a vehicle with the driver.
“Taking all matters into account, members concluded that they would not. Members felt that the allegations regarding CD219’s conduct were very concerning. Members felt that, on balance, the information received from the police, supported their view that CD219 was not a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.”
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