Taxi Driver Online

Burglary, GBH and indecent assault: the crimes committed by Derbyshire cabbies

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... ng-2038979

One driver has ten previous convictions

Robbery, GBH and indecent assault are just some of the convictions held by taxi drivers that are licensed in South Derbyshire, we can reveal.

One Freedom of Information request found that 32 out of 273 private hire taxi drivers, licensed by South Derbyshire District Council in the past three years, have criminal convictions.

A second Freedom of Information request revealed the convictions held by 22 of the 32 drivers.

These included robbery, indecent assault and persistently soliciting a woman for prostitution from a motor vehicle.

The convictions of the other ten drivers, however, could not be disclosed as they would lead to the identification of the driver or the information is no longer held on the council’s database.

The information also showed that one particular driver had ten previous convictions, including burglary and driving with no licence.

Some of these drivers would be unable to get a licence from Derby City Council, as many of the convictions would bar them from acquiring one.

The district council’s website says that it judges taxi drivers based on whether the applicant is a “fit and proper person, is medically fit and has held a UK driving licence for at least 12 months”.

A spokesman from the authority told Derbyshire Live that it ensures all drivers are "sufficiently vetted" before it grants a licence.

They said: “All applications are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and licensed drivers must be DBS-checked annually.

“Any applicants or licence holders with criminal convictions are brought before our Licensing, Appeals Sub Committee, which determines whether they are a fit and proper person to hold a licence in line with the legislation and our private hire licensing policy.

“In deciding whether a driver is considered to be fit and proper, the sub-committee considers each case on its merits, taking into account the nature of the offence, the length of time since conviction, the driver’s character and other relevant information.

“Once a licence is granted, criminal record checks are regularly undertaken and all drivers are required to sign up to the DBS online checking service so certificates are kept up to date.

“Our main priority is, and always will be, to strike the necessary balance and ensure the safety of the public is protected at all times."

Derbyshire Live previously revealed how more than 200 taxi drivers licensed in Derby have a criminal conviction.

In July, a Freedom of Information request found Derby City Council allowed 215 drivers with previous convictions to hold either a private hire or hackney carriage licence, which is needed to operate a taxi in the city.

According to the request response, the city council currently licenses 1,273 cabbies, which means that almost one in six of them hold a criminal conviction.

What convictions do these 22 taxi drivers have?

Driver One: Robbery, using threatening, abusive, insulting words and battery.

Driver Two: Speeding and obstruction of a police officer.

Driver Three: Obstructing an officer, driving whilst disqualified, using a vehicle whilst uninsured and breach of a community order.

Driver Four: Failing to stop at a red light and contravention of a pedestrian crossing.

Driver Five: Driving without due care and attention.

Driver Six: Using threatening, abusive, insulting words and affray.

Driver Seven: Using threatening, abusive, insulting words.

Driver Eight: Indecent assault.

Driver Nine: Theft from a vehicle, fraudulently using vehicle registration plates, no driving licence, no insurance, using vehicle without excise licence in force, burglary, theft, perjury by witness, driving whilst disqualified and breach of suspended sentence.

Driver 10: Disqualification from driving.

Driver 11: Burglary and theft, using disorderly behaviour or threatening/abusive/insulting words.

Driver 12: Persistently soliciting a woman for prostitution from a motor vehicle.

Driver 13: Soliciting a woman for prostitution from a motor vehicle.

Driver 14: Assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Driver 15: Harassment.

Driver 16: Assault.

Driver 17: Persistently soliciting a woman for prostitution from a motor vehicle.

Driver 18: Theft, driver of passenger-carrying vehicle failing to produce PCV driving licence to authorised officer, failing to produce certificate of insurance, failure to produce test certificate, making off without paying, attempt theft and driving a motor with excess alcohol.

Driver 19: Driving whilst disqualified and two counts of driving a vehicle uninsured.

Driver 20: Using threatening, abusive words, handling stolen goods, GBH, assault occasioning ABH, criminal damage, driving a vehicle with excess alcohol, racially threatening, abusive or insulting words, theft and resist/obstruct of a constable in the execution of their duty.

Driver 21: Theft, obtaining property by deception.

Driver 22: Theft.

I really hate these kind of articles.

They have no time line as to when the drivers did what they did, or in what context they were committed.

Granted two or three of those drivers maybe shouldn't have been licensed, but LOs and Councillors must have got the full picture when they licensed them.

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IDFIMH

Taxis are always an easy target for the press

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

I make it 10 should not have been granted a license