Taxi Driver Online

Whose car are you in?
23 November 2006
EDITORIAL - editorial@thecomet.net


Licences are being granted to drivers with serious criminal convictions
PEOPLE with serious criminal convictions are being granted licences to drive taxis in Comet country.

This shocking fact was discovered after The Comet launched an investigation using the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Statistics supplied by Stevenage Borough Council reveal that 35 out of 203 current private hire drivers in Stevenage - who can be sent to your home - have committed 122 offences between them.

North Herts District Council and Mid Beds Council were unable to satisfy our request for information regarding the criminal convictions of their currently licensed hackney carriage and private hire drivers. We intend to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner, should our channels with these two councils be exhausted.

The crimes in Stevenage include serious driving offences such as death by reckless driving, drink-driving and driving without due care and attention.

A staggering 10 convictions of driving while disqualified have been recorded and 19 fixed penalty speeding convictions have been clocked up.

An incredible 42 offences of burglary/theft have been committed by private hire drivers, while 10 offences of causing actual bodily harm have been recorded. Other convictions by private hire drivers include common assault, possession of dangerous drugs, possession of a weapon for discharge of noxious liquid gas, handling stolen goods and fraud.

Our investigation also revealed 10 out of 140 current hackney carriage drivers in Stevenage - who collect passengers from taxi ranks - have amassed 40 criminal offences including battery, ABH and possession of dangerous drugs.

A whopping 23 burglary/theft offences have been committed and seven fixed penalty speeding notices served.

A number of crimes have been committed as recently as this year and, while some are considered "spent" under the Rehabillitation of Offenders Act 1974, all convictions, irrespective of age, sentence or offence committed, remain live for somebody applying to drive a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle.

Richard Evans, head of environmental health and licensing at Stevenage Borough Council, said: "Some of the information that The Comet has requested dates right back to 1959 and of the almost 350 Stevenage taxi drivers, 13 per cent have a previous conviction.

"We must treat each application on its own merits but an applicant will normally be refused a licence if he or she has a particular conviction within a certain period of time.

"We will not hesitate to use the powers at our disposal in the interests of public safety but local authorities must balance this with the human right for people to be able to earn a living."

Richard Henry, executive councillor for e-government and environment, said: "We have nearly 350 taxi drivers in Stevenage who provide a very good service.

"We carefully consider all applications for licences, and taxi drivers are subject to rigorous checks because public safety is always our top priority."

In a press release recently issued by the council, regarding the refusal to renew a driver's hackney carriage licence, Cllr Henry said: "We are committed to making sure that taxi drivers are thoroughly vetted and action is taken to remove from the road those who may pose a risk to the safety of the travelling public. This stance is strongly supported by the vast majority of the taxi trade in Stevenage."

However, after speaking to a number of taxi firms in Comet country, it appears the council's decision to grant licences to people with criminal convictions is not widely known.

A spokesman for Boxall Taxis, Nightingale Road, Hitchin, said: "The council does the checks and they don't give people a licence if they have a conviction."

Noreen Rehman, company secretary for Ace Taxis, The Glebe, Stevenage, said: "We take on all licensed drivers and these people go through the council vetting procedure.

"They have to have a Criminal Records Bureau check done at an advanced level. They are quite stringent checks that the council do and I think they are making them stricter."

A spokesman for Dave's Taxis, Pixmore Avenue, Letchworth GC, said: "In order to get plated, people need to have a good track record.

"The council do the checks so I don't need to get involved because they do a thorough job."

l Since May 2006, Stevenage Borough Council has revoked, suspended or refused seven existing hackney carriage or private hire drivers, as well as one new applicant.

They have also successfully prosecuted two unlicensed private hire drivers.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Let's thank the Lord for local decision making by local people

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

You mean thank the lord for the freedom of information act allowing the press to publish stories.

How many of the offences were there before the drivers were granted licenses? how many were 'spent' convictions but on record?

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Haven't these journalists got anything better to do than scaremongering? Obviously they never had a life, were never students out for a good time; and never did anything that they later regretted Don't know of any rapists or murderers driving Licenced Taxi's and Private Hires - can the same be said for minicabs? oppps - thats scare mongering isn't it?

Articles like these will lead to Mothers calling for all the staff in Mothercare to have CRB checks because they may come into contact with children; and has that young assistant measuring your childs feet for new shoes secretly got a fettish for feet and have they been CRB checked. Then theres always the cashier in your local supermarket that goes through your underwear before you wear it... are they going to go around telling everyone whether your a thong, Y front or boxer man and plan how they are going to seduce you by your choice - cos they are really a murderous rapist who due to his / her job hasn't been CRB checked! Getting silly isn't it?

Well I for one am proud of my Criminal Past yes - every CRB / Police Check that comes back shows that I got fined a quid for removing a wheel clamp without damaging it and returning it to the lawful owner. (OK so while Plod were busy taking statements etc the untaxed car vanished into thin air - but I can "honestly" say I know nothing about where it went or how it reappeared with the correct documentation ) And before I get a load of grief for having an untaxed car etc it was on private property with the owners permission (silly loophole that - I owned the land!)

Well as they no-longer exist, I suppose one can say what they like about them.

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IDFIMH

If one of these drivers pick you up to go to the airport they have the opportunity to screw your house while you are away, it's happend before.

Tigger, I am old enough to Remember when there was no checks , when you didn't need a licence,( for and private hire) and the hackney Licence was a joke, believe you me there was some very iffy people driving taxis and private hire, I can remember one bloke out of many, who had convictions for robbery, wife beating. ,and many more, I can remember women being raped in taxis by the driver, both sides of the trade have worked hard to ensure that the public know that they are safe while travelling in a private hire or hackney .
I would ask you to remember two young children that thought they were safe with a school caretaker...

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Mr T - I think i didn't get across what i was really trying to say all that well. I feel that cabbies get a raw deal and we are forefront when something goes wrong; I wasn't trying to defend the people within our trade that really shouldn't be there at all, I was trying to point out that these dangers exist in so many places that it is totally unfair to simply condone ALL Taxi drivers etc.

As you had no way of knowing (I hid where I was from) - no; I can never forget the two children that thought they could trust a school caretaker .... how can I ever forget I live in Norfolk and my brother lives in Ely with his children - one the same age as Holly and Jessica would have been now. Kevin Well's in particular has my heart felt sympathy as he has been brave enough to make his feelings public and if you haven't read his book I suggest that you do so asap - just don't expect to put it down until you've finished it and I don't care how tough you are you WILL cry. And once you've read it you'll never ever look at that picture of those two precious and inoccent children in those footie shirts again without seeing how much heartache that picture holds for the families. I can never hold my neices hand and walk over the bridge by the river - there is still; although I couldn'thave done anything this horrid picture of a mobile phone ringing under the water.

A few years ago I was a Sales Manager at a Saab dealership when Thomas Marshall was murdered by a local shop keeper - one of the vehicles that was seen was a Saab and I worked with the Police in every way that I could. I can not discuss any further.

A couple of years ago the lad that sat next to my son at school went missing and has never been found - presumed to have fallen into the sea. The "adults" in this childs life seem to have moved on and have left the area but the children still cry and ask why?

Please don't take this personally Mr T - I think you just touched on what went through my mind and it needed to come out and has; so I have to at least thank you for giving these feelings an airing!

I can't leave this post like this as i've mentined too much (for which I apologise) ....

May these children finally find rest, may they never remember and may we never forget.

Aye, 87 this month, is our Mr T.