Taxi Driver Online

A man who threatened to blow-up a police station gets Glasgow cab licence

https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/171 ... b-licence/

A man who threatened to blow-up a police station has been given permission to start working as a Glasgow cab driver.

Hamza Bin Iqbal, 33, was granted a private hire cab driver’s licence despite an objection by Police Scotland’s chief constable Iain Livingstone.

It came after Mr Iqbal burst into Motherwell Police Office and demanded that cops release his friend during an incident in August 2007.

When officers told him to “clear-off”, Mr Iqbal said: “My pal is in here. You’ve got five minutes to get him out or I’ll f*****g bomb the place.”

He was arrested at the police station and while there, he kept asking officers “are you looking for the bomb?”

A Police Scotland spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Iqbal avoided terrorism charges because on-duty officers assessed that the bomb threat wasn’t real.

Instead he was charged with a breach of the peace and was later ordered to carry out 120-hours of unpaid work by a sheriff.

A year later he was given a licence to work as a cabbie in North Lanarkshire.

But this week he appeared in front of Glasgow’s licensing committee in a bid to work in the city after moving from Larkhall to Rutherglen.

He claimed that he went to the police station because he was asked to open a takeaway shop that his friend, who had been arrested, owned.

But when asked about the bomb threat, Mr Iqbal said: “I don’t believe that’s how the events unfolded.

“I didn’t utter these words and ‘surprisingly’ the CCTV wasn’t working that day to prove it.

“I’m not a violent person.”

Mr Iqbal insisted his conviction was now spent and he currently has a “clean record”. But Police Scotland confirmed the breach of the peace conviction will remain on his record for another five years.

Licensing committee chairman Alex Wilson said: “Whether North Lanarkshire’s licensing committee gave you a licence or not is relevant.

“What police Scotland are saying and what you’ve been convicted of is serious. We need to be assured that you’re a fit and proper person to drive a taxi.

"This is a black mark against your name.”

Despite that, Mr Iqbal was granted a licence to drive a cab in Glasgow for the next three years.

He was also given an official warning about his future conduct.

They like giving licences out to criminals in Glasgow don't they?

they do everywhere but perhaps Glasgow are more open about it or the local journo's are attending licensing committee meetings as observers

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