Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver taken to court after he's caught red-handed outside Old Trafford

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... r-31102534

An unlicenced taxi driver was trapped in a council sting after trying to cash in on fans leaving an Artic Monkeys gig.

The private hire driver illegally picked up two undercover officers from Trafford Council at the roadside after the band's concert at Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

Only Hackney carriage - black cabs - are insured to pick up customers who have not pre-booked.

Bilal Khan, of Manchester Road, Bury, pleaded guilty to offences that could put the public at risk, in a prosecution by Trafford Council’s Licensing Enforcement Team.

He was unlicensed and uninsured to pick up passengers at the roadside, and was not wearing a driver’s badge when he offered to give under-cover council officers a lift.

Trafford Council’s Licensing Enforcement Team members were clamping down on private hire vehicles illegally touting for business that night.

Just before 10pm, two officers approached his private hire Skoda Octavia, licenced to Manchester City Council, to ask for a three-mile ride into the city centre. Though they had not pre-booked, Khan agreed to take them for £20 cash. They got in and Khan set off, before the officers revealed their identity and asked him to pull over.

Afterwards, in a statement, Khan said he intended to take the officers, who he initially believed to be customers, into the city centre for free, out of the goodness of his heart.

However, at Manchester Magistrates Court, Khan pleaded guilty to the offences put to him. He was fined a total of £990 consisting of a £600 fine, £240 surcharge and £150 towards costs.

Councillor Rose Thompson, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Communities and Safety, said: “It’s very important that these rules are upheld for people’s safety. Private hire taxis must be pre-booked. This type of license does not allow drivers to pick up passengers who ask at the roadside.

“That means anyone getting in such a vehicle under these circumstances would be uninsured for the journey. Only hackney carriages, or black cabs, can be hailed down in the street."

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IDFIMH

it's a long time since we've had a story about drivers getting caught out at old trafford (or eastfields)

I bet he regrets it now

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

Not really an 'unlicensed driver', so had a look at the Trafford Council press release to see whether it was maybe the MEN who introduced that slightly misleading nuance, but it's acutally in Trafford's headline

And, I mean, the first sentence in the press release actually states that he's a 'private hire taxi driver', and thus licensed, albeit by another council. (And leaving aside the use of the t-word...)


Unlicenced taxi driver fined after offering £20 cash journey to under-cover Council officers

https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/n ... icers.aspx

A private hire taxi driver has been fined for illegally picking up two under cover Council officers at the roadside after an Arctic Monkeys concert at Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground.



I'm past being pedantic about what actually constitutes a 'fine'

But even the council here is stating what the fine is, but in the same sentence also saying he was 'fined in total' regarding other charges as well