Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver loses licence after 'touching' women travelling alone

A judge told a taxi driver he could not be considered a “fit and proper person” as she refused his appeal to get his licence back.

Private Hire taxi driver Shahzad Ahmad, from Liverpool, had his licence revoked by Knowsley Council 's Licensing Team back in June 2021 following two separate complaints relating to inappropriate touching of female passengers. He appealed the decision but that was dismissed after appearing at Liverpool Magistrates Court on July 18.

The Judge found Mr Ahmad could not be considered a "fit and proper person" and that he had behaved "shockingly inappropriately." The Judge also praised the bravery of the two women who came forward and reported the incidents.

Knowsley Council confirmed it has now updated the national database which shows that Mr Ahmad’s licence has been revoked, preventing him from obtaining a private hire driver’s licence from any other local authority. A referral is also being made to the Disclosure Barring Service.

The council confirmed to the ECHO Mr Ahmad was issued with a private hire licence in 2015, and worked for several Merseyside taxi firms until his licence was revoked in 2021.

Cllr Shelley Powell, Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, said: "We will take robust action against anyone who is not operating in accordance with the terms of their private hire licence. The safety of our residents is always our priority and we will not hesitate to take action against licensed taxi drivers who compromise passenger safety.

"We take any complaint seriously and following a thorough investigation, we have been able to successfully remove Mr Ahmad’s licence. Importantly, we have stopped him from working as a private hire taxi driver and prevented anyone else from having to go through such a terrible experience."

As well as having his licence revoked, he has also been ordered to pay £500 in costs.

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IDFIMH

What is it with some drivers, can't they keep their pervy hands to themselves!!!

Hate to be pedantic, but don't think that's strictly correct, correct me if I'm wrong

Nothing in principle to stop a revoked driver getting badged elsewhere. And, in law, a council would be 'fettering its discretion' if it said that there was an automatic ban for particular conduct.

Of course, pretty unlikely in this case that the driver would be able to get badged elsewhere, particularly in view of the court case and the judge's comments.

But in less obvious cases, an entry on the database surely doesn't mean that a revoked driver automatically can't get a badge elsewhere. The database is surely about providing information to authorities to help them decide on applications, but in the final analysis it's just information, and they can't let it fetter their discretion. I think

Some sadly enter the trade to do be able to do stuff like this.

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IDFIMH