Eight York taxi drivers are stripped of licences
http://www.thepress.co.uk/news/3833708.Eight_York_taxi_drivers_are_stripped_of_licences/
THEY are the people who are supposed to get us home safely, but today The Press can reveal some of the shocking reasons why taxi drivers have had their licences stripped off them in the past year.
Watching child porn, driving when drunk and acts of violent and aggressive behaviour have left licensing chiefs no choice, but to revoke no less than eight licences since October 2007.
The figures, unearthed through a request under the Freedom of Information Act, show three of the drivers have had their licence withdrawn for “sexual offences”. Among the most serious cases is that of Paul McKenna, a taxi driver on the school run, who was jailed after a stash of child porn was found on his computer.
In July, we reported how McKenna’s partner, Julie Pickering, shopped him when she discovered the hoard of illegal pictures and sex videos on their home computer.
The court heard that 37-year-old McKenna’s long-term addiction to adult pornography had led him to actively search the internet for child pornography when his relationship with her turned sour.
McKenna, of Swinerton Avenue, off Leeman Road, York, pleaded guilty to four charges of making child porn and one of possessing child porn. Of the 22 videos, 12 were hardcore including one at the highest level of the child porn scale.
He was jailed for six months and was put on the sex offenders’ register for seven years. Licensing manager for City of York Council John Lacy confirmed seven other private hire or hackney carriage drivers have had their licence refused, revoked or suspended “on the grounds of not being a fit and proper person to hold such a licence in the past 12 months”.
Of that figure Mr Lacy said: “Three for sexual offences, including one for making indecent photographs/videos of children, two for violence, two for drink-driving and two for motoring offence i.e. points on licence.”
He said the council set a standard for providing a taxi licence.
“Details of the criteria City of York Council sets for people looking to acquire a hackney carriage licence ensures that a person is fit and proper to hold a licence, a person does not pose a threat to the public and the public are safeguarded from dishonest persons.”
To achieve this applicants are subject to a series of tests and checks.
These include completing an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check, passing a medical equivalent to the DVLA’s Group 2 medical, passing a knowledge test, being the holder of a driving licence for over 12 months and providing suitable references.
Hall of shame
A glimpse though The Press archives show taxi drivers caught flouting the law.
In July, 2008, taxi driver Gary Crowther was convicted of driving without due care and attention after being involved in an early morning accident in York which killed a 22-year-old woman. Crowther’s Renault Kangoo taxi struck the woman as she was walking in the road in August 2007.
The magistrates imposed a 12-month suspended sentence, three penalty points on Crowther’s licence, and ordered him to pay £100 towards prosecution costs.
In April 2008, Stephen John Scrivener, aged 50, of Skewsby Grove, Clifton, pleaded guilty at York Magistrates Court growing cannabis plants worth £2,500 in his garage, saying he grew them for his son.
John Eric Young had been a taxi driver for 12 years when he received a 12-month driving ban last December for drink driving.
A breath test gave a reading of 49 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milligrams of breath. The legal limit is 35.
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