some only know how to learn the hard way
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| Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with him http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=39736 |
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| Author: | Sussex [ Tue Aug 08, 2023 6:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with him |
Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with him https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news ... er-8662258 A rogue taxi driver who lied about having a previous licence revoked has been prosecuted for fraud. Mohammed Mirza Noor, 51, from Knighton Lane East, Leicester, had his taxi licence revoked in 2015 by Leicester City Council for plying for trade - picking up customers without a booking - but then lied to a different council about this in order to get a new licence. Only licensed hackney carriages - typically the traditional black cabs - are allowed to take customers who have not pre-booked through an official company. This reduces the risk of passengers travelling in uninsured or unsafe cars and means drivers are easier to trace if something goes wrong. Through his lies Noor abused a position of trust, magistrates ruled, as “members of the public would be getting into his taxi on trust yet not knowing he has lied to the council”. Noor pleaded guilty to fraud at Leicester Magistrates’ Court last week and was sentence to 100 hours unpaid work. Noor said in an application to Blaby District Council for a new licence that he had never been refused a private hire or hackney carriage driver licence and had never held one with another council, the district authority said. The council granted him a three-year licence. This was then renewed three years later in 2019. Noor again said he’d never been refused a licence or held a licence with another authority. Blaby District Council added. However, when he came to renew in 2022, Noor admitted he had previously had his licence revoked. The district council said, upon investigating, it was then told by Leicester City Council that he had previously been prosecuted for plying-for-hire offences and not having insurance, and his licence had then been revoked in 2015. The district council refused his application and took steps to prosecute. Noor admitted to lying to the council and deliberately failed to disclose information relating to his previous offences for personal gain during an interview with the council under caution in March this year, the authority added. He then pleaded guilty to fraud by failing to disclose information when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday (August 2). He was given a 12 month community service order in which time he must complete 100 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay costs, including a victim surcharge, of £1,467.64. Magistrates said Noor had abused his position of trust as “members of the public would be getting into his taxi on trust yet not knowing he has lied to the Council”, adding he had conducted this “fraudulent activity” over a “sustained period of time”. Councillor Les Phillimore, Blaby District Council portfolio holder for housing, community and environmental services, said: “This is a most satisfying result for us and demonstrates our commitment to ensuring anyone who provides false information to us will face the consequences. Being a taxi driver is a huge responsibility and we must be confident all our drivers meet our ‘fit and proper person’ criteria. When that isn’t the case, we will act – so let this serve as a clear message to other drivers and the public that lying and failing to disclose relevant information to the Council will not be tolerated.” |
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| Author: | edders23 [ Tue Aug 08, 2023 9:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with |
some only know how to learn the hard way
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| Author: | StuartW [ Thu Aug 10, 2023 6:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with |
No point in reading this again, but had noticed that the full version of the article posted by Sussex could do with a bit of editing. In particular, including the strapline the same slightly contorted wording is repeated three times: Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with him https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news ... er-8662258 "Members of the public would be getting into his taxi on trust yet not knowing he has lied to the council,” magistrates said A rogue taxi driver who lied about having a previous licence revoked has been prosecuted for fraud. Mohammed Mirza Noor, 51, from Knighton Lane East, Leicester, had his taxi licence revoked in 2015 by Leicester City Council for plying for trade - picking up customers without a booking - but then lied to a different council about this in order to get a new licence. Only licensed hackney carriages - typically the traditional black cabs - are allowed to take customers who have not pre-booked through an official company. This reduces the risk of passengers travelling in uninsured or unsafe cars and means drivers are easier to trace if something goes wrong. Through his lies Noor abused a position of trust, magistrates ruled, as “members of the public would be getting into his taxi on trust yet not knowing he has lied to the council”. Noor pleaded guilty to fraud at Leicester Magistrates’ Court last week and was sentence to 100 hours unpaid work. Noor said in an application to Blaby District Council for a new licence that he had never been refused a private hire or hackney carriage driver licence and had never held one with another council, the district authority said. The council granted him a three-year licence. This was then renewed three years later in 2019. Noor again said he’d never been refused a licence or held a licence with another authority. Blaby District Council added. However, when he came to renew in 2022, Noor admitted he had previously had his licence revoked. The district council said, upon investigating, it was then told by Leicester City Council that he had previously been prosecuted for plying-for-hire offences and not having insurance, and his licence had then been revoked in 2015. The district council refused his application and took steps to prosecute. Noor admitted to lying to the council and deliberately failed to disclose information relating to his previous offences for personal gain during an interview with the council under caution in March this year, the authority added. He then pleaded guilty to fraud by failing to disclose information when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday (August 2). He was given a 12 month community service order in which time he must complete 100 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay costs, including a victim surcharge, of £1,467.64. Magistrates said Noor had abused his position of trust as “members of the public would be getting into his taxi on trust yet not knowing he has lied to the Council”, adding he had conducted this “fraudulent activity” over a “sustained period of time”. Councillor Les Phillimore, Blaby District Council portfolio holder for housing, community and environmental services, said: “This is a most satisfying result for us and demonstrates our commitment to ensuring anyone who provides false information to us will face the consequences. Being a taxi driver is a huge responsibility and we must be confident all our drivers meet our ‘fit and proper person’ criteria. When that isn’t the case, we will act – so let this serve as a clear message to other drivers and the public that lying and failing to disclose relevant information to the Council will not be tolerated.” |
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| Author: | StuartW [ Thu Aug 10, 2023 6:32 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with |
...but wondered why and how he'd 'admitted' that he'd previously been revoked, during the 2022 application process. There's another wee fact in the council's press release, as highlighted. Rogue taxi driver prosecuted https://www.blaby.gov.uk/your-council/n ... rosecuted/ A rogue taxi driver who lied about having a previous licence revoked and operated under false pretences for six years has been prosecuted by Blaby District Council. Mohammed Mirza Noor, 51, from Knighton Lane East, Leicester, pleaded guilty to fraud by failing to disclose information when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court. He was given a 12 month community service order within which he must complete 100 hours unpaid work and required to pay costs, including a victim surcharge, of £1,467.64. When sentencing, the Magistrates made specific reference to the statutory aggravating factors of ‘abuse of position of power or trust or responsibility’ and further ‘fraudulent activity conducted over a sustained period of time’. Stating that members of the public would be getting into his taxi on trust yet not knowing he has lied to the Council and therefore has abused his position of trust. The court heard from Blaby District Council’s solicitor, Humaira Ingar of Oadby and Wigston Borough Council Legal, that Noor had been prosecuted by Leicester City Council in 2015. At that time he had his taxi licence revoked for plying for trade – picking up customers without a booking. However, when he first applied for a taxi licence from Blaby District Council in October 2016, he made no mention of this. In determining all applications licensing officers at the Council have to be satisfied the applicant is a ‘fit and proper person’ and without any prior licence refusals or revocations. On his application form Noor stated he had never been refused a private hire or hackney carriage driver licence before and had never held a licence with another Council. On 11 November 2016, a hackney carriage driver licence was granted and issued. When renewing his licence in November 2019, Noor again said he’d never been refused a licence or held a licence with another authority. And again a three-year licence was granted. During the renewal process in 2022 however, Noor admitted on the application form he’d previously had a private hire driver licence revoked by Leicester City Council because he had ‘picked up a customer without a booking’. Checks by Blaby District Council confirmed this and further information was requested from Leicester City Council. It was found Noor had previously been prosecuted for plying-for-hire offences and no insurance and his licence had then been revoked/refused by Leicester City Council in 2015. On receipt of this Blaby District Council was satisfied Noor had lied to the Council and his application for renewal was refused and a decision made to prosecute. During an interview, under caution, in March 2023 Noor received details on the Council’s refusal and was presented with his offences. He admitted between 27 October 2016 and 25 October 2022, he had lied to and misled the Council. He also admitted he had deliberately failed to disclose information relating to his previous offences, so intending to make a gain for himself. By misleading the Council, Noor had further obstructed authorised officers of the Council from their duties towards ensuring he was a ‘fit and proper’ person. Councillor Les Phillimore, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Community and Environmental Services for Blaby District Council, said: "This is a most satisfying result for us and demonstrates our commitment to ensuring anyone who provides false information to us will face the consequences. "Being a taxi driver is a huge responsibility and we must be confident all our drivers meet our ‘fit and proper person’ criteria. When that isn’t the case, we will act – so let this serve as a clear message to other drivers and the public that lying and failing to disclose relevant information to the Council will not be tolerated." |
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| Author: | StuartW [ Thu Aug 10, 2023 6:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with |
Quote: During the renewal process in 2022 however, Noor admitted on the application form he’d previously had a private hire driver licence revoked by Leicester City Council because he had ‘picked up a customer without a booking’. But wonder why he suddenly decided to disclose it in 2022, while failing to disclose it previously? Not sure precisely how it works, but maybe he knew about the NR3 database, or whatever, and decided to be upfront about it rather than perhaps be caught out by the council's checks, which might have lead to a worse outcome than voluntarily disclosing it? But which has obviously backfired - even if he'd continued to keep schtum, the outcome couldn't have been any worse for him 
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| Author: | Sussex [ Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:09 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Leicester taxi driver in court after lies catch up with |
Quote: But wonder why he suddenly decided to disclose it in 2022 Maybe because his name would appear on the naughty boys list of banned taxi/PH drivers. |
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