'Naive' Plymouth minicab boss loses his licenceTHE owner of a minicab firm has been banned from running the company after a string of "naive" blunders.
Jeremy Stevens, boss of Pilgrim Pick-ups, used a car that was not licensed for private hire after his company vehicles repeatedly broke down.
Mr Stevens, aged 45, from Weir Road, Mainstone, was given stiff fines and a six-month driving ban by Plymouth magistrates earlier this month after pleading guilty to nine offences.
His wife Amanda and brother-in-law David Kitchin were also fined for driving the unauthorised vehicle.
Using an unlicensed car could have put customers at risk because they may not have been insured in an accident.
Mr Stevens told members of Plymouth City Council taxi licensing committee yesterday that one of his cars was off the road for 13 weeks due to repairs that dragged on.
During that time he paid other companies to complete jobs for him about 100 times. But he admitted using the unlicensed vehicle on multiple occasions in September last year. He said customers sometimes booked their trips to Exeter and Bristol airports months in advance.
"I felt I had to fulfil the bookings. It was during the summer and other operators were fully booked themselves.
"We were trying to provide a service and we messed up. We made a naive, stupid mistake and this will never occur again.
"This is our sole income and it has been devastating."
Mr Stevens said he had now replaced the Fiats he used to use with Fords because it was quicker to get spare parts.
Representing Mr Stevens, solicitor Anthony Dyke said that revoking his licence would be a harsh penalty.
"His actions were not motivated out of greed," Mr Dyke said. "Over the past seven months the business has been put back on the straight and narrow."
But the committee ruled that Mr Stevens was not a "fit and proper person" to hold a licence to run a private hire business and revoked his licence.
Mr Stevens will be allowed to continue driving a private hire vehicle when he has served his driving ban, but the committee issued a severe warning which will remain on his record.
The couple said later that they would appeal against the ruling to Plymouth magistrates.
And they vowed that Pilgrim Pick-ups would continue in business under the control of Mrs Stevens or another associate.
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