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Outrage as Blackburn violent attacker given taxi licence
A MAN just released from a prison sentence for a violent attack has been granted a licence to drive a taxi.
Critics blasted the decision made behind closed doors by councillors on Blackburn’s licensing sub committee — and called on them to explain themselves.
Private hire driver Zahid Mahmood had his taxi licence renewed last week, months after being sent to prison for attacking a man with a wheel brace.
According to official guidelines, anyone who has committed such an offence would not normally be granted a licence for three years.
Councillors said Mr Mahmood had no previous convictions and had launched the attack ‘after being provoked’.
But Labour group leader Kate Hollern said the decision was “so far outside the rules” that the chair of the committee should publicly explain its reasoning.
She said: “I haven’t been able to get an answer and if there are exceptional reasons I think it’s nonsense they aren’t being explained to us.
“I think it’s a real concern that someone who has been jailed for a violent crime is driving a taxi.
“There is no excuse for violence, except for self defence and that is something a court would have looked at.
“The committee is not a court and it is not for them to look into mitigating circumstances.”
Blackburn MP and Justice Secretary Jack Straw added: “I find this decision surprising, to say the least. I will be asking the council for a lot more information about it.”
One of the members of the licensing sub-committee said it had been agreed that Mahmood, of Brunel Walk, Blackburn, had been provoked into the attack, in May 2008, and had been offered a “second chance”.
Labour councillor Zamir Khan said there had been “a lot of debate” at the meeting, but all three councillors had agreed.
He said: “It was provocation more than anything else. He came to the committee, he had not been in trouble before, we looked at all the circumstances, and we said we would give him a second chance.
“The way he explained it, it was like self-defence.”
However, the guidelines say councillors must not “review the merits” of a conviction.
The chairman of the committee, Tory Konrad Tapp, would not comment as he said the decision was taken during the confidential part of the meeting.
The third member, Lib Dem Abdul Rehman, said: “The press and public were excluded.
"The committee considered everything and took the appropriate action.
"That was the decision and that is all I am prepared to say.”
In March 2009 Mahmood pleaded guilty under section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act, wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
The licensing committee is in charge of granting taxi licences and hearing applications for them to be renewed.
The 14-page guidelines on taxi drivers’ convictions were updated in July and apply across the borough and Greater Manchester.
The document says the council has to ensure a person “does not pose a risk to the public” before granting a licence.
Licensing committees should “have regard” to the guidelines, it says, but can depart from them “where the circumstances demand”.
But they should only take into account factors like the date it happened and the age of the person, according to the document.
New guidelines are due to come into force next month which say an application should “normally be refused” where a section 20 offence has been committed within 10 years.
The tightening up from a three-year ban has come in a bid to ensure taxi safety for the public.
Police said they had not been consulted, but that they are not normally involved in taxi licences.
Mr Mahmood could not be contacted for comment .
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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
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