Burnley minicab driver loses licence fightA BURNLEY minicab driver whose private hire licence was taken off him after he was caught driving his daughter’s car uninsured, has lost a fight to get it back.
The town’s crown court was told how Sohail Mahmood, 55, had had a forged insurance certificate for the vehicle.
He failed to tell Burnley Council he had been convicted of driving without insurance, a ‘major conviction’ under licence rules, or that he had been cautioned for providing a false document.
The council had revoked his private hire licence, Pennine magistrates had in June upheld the decision and he then appealed at the crown court.
Father-of-three Mr Mahmood, had held a taxi licence since 1990 and been licensed with Burnley Council since 2002.
He had his appeal dismissed by Judge Beverley Lunt, sitting with two justices, who said he had been responsible for four violations of the rules, and added: “He knows more than perhaps many drivers how very important matters related to insurance documents are. We cannot possibly say the decision was wrong.”
The appellant, who has been on benefits since the licence was taken away in April, must pay £250 costs.
Jonathan Jackson, for Burnley Borough Council, said Mr Mahmood was stopped in February 2012 and on November 16, he admitted having no insurance at the lower court and got eight points on his licence.
In January, he accepted a caution for providing a false certificate. His licence was revoked three months later.
Mr Jackson said the appellant failed to notify the council he was being prosecuted for having no insurance, that he had been convicted, that investigations were ongoing into the fraudulent certificate or that he had been cautioned.
David Morton, for Mahmood, said he was a family man who had spent the vast majority of his life as a taxi driver, without blemish. He had been insured for his minicab.
He had been planning to buy and sell cars to supplement his income.
Mahmood had been introduced to a person he was told was a trustworthy insurance salesman and handed over £1,800 for what he believed was a cheap trader’s policy.
The barrister said: “It was that policy he produced at the magistrates’ court and took to the police station.
“It was a transparently fraudulent document. He admits being stupid, naive and reckless in that regard.”
source:
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/ne ... nce_fight/
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