Another desperado
Not sure I'd put too much emphasis on the recent speeding stuff - it doesn't say how fast he was going, so it's maybe just a case of being the only one who doesn't slow down for the speed camera, sort of thing, which is effectively what he's claiming here
But there's a lot of other stuff, even if the substantive offences are quite historical...
But reads like he's still got PCV/PSV licences, and is working for a private hire operator. Or at least he claims he can, although not 100% clear whether he actually does
Motorist with drink driving and speeding convictions fails to get taxi licence for FOURTH timehttps://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/tees ... d-31022961The driver asked for a private hire licence, having been refused in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and revoked in 2012, saying he was now an 'honest, changed man'A motorist with drink driving and speeding convictions has been refused a taxi licence for the fourth time by Stockton Council.
The driver applied for a private hire licence from the authority, which had refused him in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The council granted him a licence in 2010, only to revoke it in 2012, and he had speeding offences in 2022 and 2023, where he admitted speeding with a child passenger, and six live penalty points on his licence, say minutes of a council licensing committee meeting.
He declared his conviction for drink driving from 2014 when he was banned from driving for three years, reduced by nine months as he completed a course, and fined £110. He admitted he was speeding as he overtook another vehicle, the minutes state.
He was given two warnings in 2010, the second "as he had received a speeding conviction within the first six months of being granted his licence". He was convicted of drink driving and possessing cannabis in January 2012, and was banned from driving for 14 months.
He was asked about this conviction, which cost him his private hire licence. He said he had been drinking at a friend's house.
He said in an interview he "did not have an alcohol addiction and was just careless", the committee heard. Councillors were told he "no longer associated with the same crowd and was now a reformed person".
He was refused a licence by Wolverhampton Council because of his previous convictions, but did not declare this on his application, nor did he declare his previous refusals by Stockton Council, saying he did not realise he had to. He said he had held a passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) licence, which allows people to drive buses, for 14 years.
'Immature, careless and reckless'He said he was previously 'immature, careless and reckless', but was now an 'honest changed person' with a mortgage and children, and had been driving a large public service vehicle (PSV) vehicle for 10 years. He was allowed to drive minibuses and could work for a private hire operator, but did not hold a licence with a council.
He was asked about the speeding offences in 2022 and 2023. He said he "did not see the speed van, and was not driving dangerously or carelessly, it just happened".
He said he was "caught off-guard and was not paying attention whilst transporting a child with a passenger assistant, and that he would have slowed down if he had seen the speed camera". He said he had not drunk alcohol for about eight years.
The committee decided they "were not satisfied that they would allow people for whom they care to enter a vehicle with" the driver because of his previous convictions for drink driving. "On the contrary, the committee felt that [the driver's] two speeding offences in 2022 and 2023, and his failure to declare information within his application only affirmed their concerns that [he] was not a fit and proper person.
"The committee were particularly concerned that rather than comprehending that he should not break the speed limit, [he] admitted to the committee that he was not paying attention whilst transporting a child, and that he would have slowed down had he seen the speed camera. This was not the attitude nor the manner of driving that the committee expect of licenced drivers, nor applicants wishing to become licenced."
They decided unanimously to refuse his application for a private hire driver's licence.