Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver's unlawful pick-up turned out to be policemen

A taxi driver told magistrates it was a "one-off thing" when he was caught picking up a fare without a booking. Private hire driver Maroof Bostan was arrested during a police operation cracking down on private hire drivers illegally plying for hire. Private hire jobs must be pre-booked.

Bostan, 51, of Bakerdale Road, Bakersfield, had been in his Toyota Prius outside the Old Dog and Partridge pub, in Lower Parliament Street. Magistrates in Nottingham heard police were in plain clothes in the city during the taxi operation at 9pm on October 30. And they walked up to the parked Toyota and asked Bostan "if he was free to take them somewhere" and a fee was mentioned.

He agreed to go to Porchester Road, Mapperley, said prosecutor Daniel Pietryka. But after setting off, the defendant was asked to pull over and the policemen explained who they were. Bostan was charged with plying for hire when his car was not licensed as a public hackney carriage.

On Friday (December 29) he entered a guilty plea before justices, who fined him £296 and ordered he pay costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge. The clerk to the court told the magistrates she had a letter from D G taxis, saying the company was "truly shocked" and it was a "momentary lapse on his part". The firm provided a map of its base, which is near to the pub where the accused made the pick-up.

Bostan, representing himself, confirmed to the court he normally had pre-booked fares. He has been doing the job for a "very, very long period of time", he said, and had "never had any problems with a taxi licence". "It was a one-off thing really," he added. "I don't have a police record or anything."

After he was given the fine he left court, turning to the magistrates and saying: "Thank you very much."

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IDFIMH

A taxi driver told magistrates it was a "one-off thing" when he was caught picking up a fare without a booking.

If he was a genuine cabbie as opposed to PH driver licensed locally it wouldn't be illegal

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Quite a number of drivers in the UK are dual licensed now.

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IDFIMH