Plymouth taxi driver convicted of assaulting women can continue job until police pass details to councilA TAXI driver who assaulted three female passengers can legally continue taking fares after council Plymouth City Council claimed its licensing committee has yet to receive records of his criminal record from police.
Augustin Marian, of Union Street, was arrested following an incident at Sherwell Arcade in North Hill on August 11 last year.
He was accused of assaulting three women who it was claimed had been in his Hackney cab.
He denied the offence but following trial at Plymouth Magistrates court he was found guilty on December 1 of all three counts of assault by beating.
Marian, aged 33, was handed a community order and told to carry out 120 hours unpaid work over the next 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation and pay a Criminal Courts Charge of £520.
As a consequence, Plymouth City Council, who had the driver on their books as Sergio Marian Augustin, said it was likely the matter would be referred to its Taxi Licensing Committee who have the power to decide whether any driver is ‘fit and proper’ to retain a licence.
It was expected the matter would be resolved on January 7 when the committee next met.
However, The Herald has learned that despite the court having details about the conviction, the committee was unable to consider any decision as it had yet to receive confirmation of the incident from police.
In effect, it means the driver can continue to carry fares if he wishes until the next committee meeting.
A spokesperson for Plymouth City Council said: “We are aware of this case but we are awaiting further detail from Devon and Cornwall Police and we anticipate that our Taxi Licensing Committee will be considering this case at its next meeting in February.
“The Taxi Licensing Committee will need a full and detailed report before coming to any decision, and this cannot happen until we have all the relevant detail from police. The committee will hear the matter at the earliest available opportunity.”
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Devon and Cornwall Police’s disclosure team originally advised Plymouth City Council of Mr Marian’s arrest on August 12 regarding alleged offences that took place on August 11, and his subsequent bail conditions.
“They then requested further information on Friday December 18. Due to staffing numbers this request was unable to be processed over the Christmas period. A detailed police report was made available to Plymouth City Council’s Taxi Licensing Committee on January 8.”
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