Quote:
And on 13 November, Lutfur Rahman, of Wood Farm Road, lost his appeal against the Council's refusal to grant him a Private Hire licence. The Court was satisfied that Mr Rahman was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence as he has a long and very poor licence record. His failure to disclose convictions was also significant and deliberate.
So this guy was cleared of sexual assault almost four years ago:
Oxford Mail wrote:
Taxi driver Lutfur Rahman cleared of sexual assault on New Year's Day
A TAXI driver has been acquitted of sexually assaulting a passenger in the early hours of New Year's Day.
Royal Cars driver Lutfur Rahman was accused of kissing the woman on the cheek in his taxi outside the Oxford Retreat on January 1 last year.
But a jury of eight men and four women at Oxford Crown Court found the 59-year-old not guilty yesterday.
The court heard the woman and four friends got the taxi to the Hythe Bridge Street pub from Bedford Street at about 12.30am.
Prosecutor Janette Hayne said Rahman had taken hold of the woman's arm as she went to leave the taxi, then kissed her.
She added: "She moved away so that the defendant, coming in towards her, kissed her on the cheek."
But Rahman, of Wood Farm Road, Oxford, said the woman had argued about the taxi fare being £2 more than expected and he had not kissed her.
He told the jury the group of women had been touching his hair and shoulders during the taxi ride.
He added: "I never considered anything like that because I am a professional taxi driver and I am doing my job."
The court heard the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sent an email complaint to the taxi firm on January 13 and reported the incident to police after being unhappy with the manager's response.
Funny, though, that at the trial this was said:
Oxford Mail wrote:
Defence barrister Jonathan Mitchell said the taxi firm told the woman there had never been any complaints about Rahman but a formal investigation would take place and had been reported to the council’s head of taxi licensing.
Which, although a few years ago now, hardly seems consistent with the "very long and poor licence record" and 'failure to disclose convictions' now cited by Oxford Council.
An unwanted kiss on the cheek without much evidence of force seems at the lower end of this kind of thing - in fact the complainant only contacted police after being dissatisfied with the way the cab company dealt with it.
But maybe his record is why he was prosecuted for this, while the trivial nature of the thing is maybe why the jury acquitted him.
(Of course, it could be two different people, but the address now and then is stated as Wood Farm Road, so very probably the same person.)
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