Preston man found guilty of driving unlicenced and uninsured taxiA man from Preston has been found guilty of driving an unlicensed taxi and driving without insurance.
Ghafoor Akthar was stopped in Chorley at a checkpoint set up by the council and Lancashire Police, where he was found to not have the correct taxi plate on his vehicle.
Akthar, 58, of Cliffe Court, Preston, was fined £1000, ordered to pay £500 costs and £100 victim surcharge, and had six penalty points endorsed on his licence.
The court was told that the defendant was stopped on the A6 Preston Road, Chorley, in a joint operation by Chorley Council, Lancashire Police and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to check vehicles and target traffic offences.
He provided his identification badge issued by Preston City Council, but it was noted that the vehicle didn't display any hackney carriage licence plate and he was cautioned.
Magistrates heard that officers at the checkpoint were told by Akthar, who had no previous convictions, that he was aware there was no plate because he'd inspected the vehicle that morning. He had explained it was being transferred from another vehicle and had not yet been put on the taxi he was driving, and he was allowed to continue his journey.
However when officers later checked with Preston City Council they were told an application for the vehicle was pending but there had been no licence in force or plates issued for the vehicle on the day it was stopped.
This also meant that although the vehicle was insured under a public and private hire insurance, the driver would not have been covered by the policy during the time vehicle was not licenced as a taxi.
Councillor Paul Walmsley, who oversees community safety for Chorley Council, said: "People's safety is of paramount importance to us which is why we have these routine vehicle checks with the police and our other partners. We check out the road worthiness of the vehicles stopped to ensure they are safe and we also ensure that all paperwork is in place and valid.
"With taxis in particular people expect that they are travelling safely and securely. On this occasion the vehicle Mr Akthar was using was road worthy, but he was using it as a taxi even though his application for a licence for his vehicle hadn't yet been granted and this in turn invalidated his insurance putting his passenger at risk if there had been an accident."
source:
http://www.thebee.co.uk/news/local-news ... ured-taxi/
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