Taxi Driver Online

Cheltenham taxi driver fined for operating illegally

https://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/ ... illegally/

An unlicensed taxi driver has been fined and given penalty points for operating illegally as a private hire driver.

Samir Jamshidi, of Priors Road, Cheltenham, pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court to using a private hire vehicle without a licence and driving without insurance between May 9 and June 1, 2025.

During this period, he completed journeys for a private hire operator despite having his hackney carriage driver’s licence revoked by a neighbouring local authority.

Councillor Rebecca Trimnell, Gloucester City Council’s cabinet member for communities, said: "Gloucester City Council is committed to ensuring the safety of passengers and the legality of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire services in our community.

"This successful prosecution sends a very clear message that we will not tolerate illegal activity in our city and will take decisive action to protect Gloucester residents and visitors."

Mr Jamshidi was fined £120, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £48, and prosecution costs of £2,008.60.

He also received eight DVLA penalty points.

The prosecution was led by Gloucester City Council’s licensing team, with support from the council’s Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit and One Legal.

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IDFIMH

Why has Council not prosecuted the private hire operator who has broken several laws or do they not have the bottle to do so.All our troubles within the trade at this moment stem from useless councils and useless officers many looking after themselves.

If the driver was licensed elsewhere how would the operator have know badge revoked ? I do think that the council revoking the badge might have made an effort to notify the operator but that relies on them knowing where he was working. This is the problem with x border. If the operator did check the badge and insurance at commencement of "employment" they would not have known of the revocation untill such time as badge renewal. The insurance probably did not know of the badge revocation otherwise they might have cancelled the policy.

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

Edders, I'm not sure what the relevance is of the reference to another authority having revoked the driver's HC badge.

Even if it hadn't been revoked, he would need a badge from the authority the private hire operator was licensed with. Which he presumably didn't have at the relevant time, hence the prosecution.

Even if he still had the HC badge issued elsewhere, or it had been revoked, as was the case here, he would still need a local PH badge to drive for a local PH operator, and the fact that he had an HC badge issued elsewhere was irrelevant, whether or not it had been revoked.

So the reference to the revocation elsewhere seems a bit of a red herring as far as the actual prosecution here was concerned. Without any further detail, the assumption surely has to be that he either didn't have a local PHD badge, or that badge had been revoked or suspended.

So either he didn't have a local badge in the first place, in which case Heathcote's point is valid.

Or maybe he did have a local PH badge, in which case you are correct in that the council should have informed the operator if it had been suspended or revoked.

(And presumably action may have been taken, or will be taken against the PH operator, but again it's impossible to know that merely via the report.)

For what it's worth, this is the official source of the press article above, and it's a Facebook post on the council's official page

And a slight inaccuracy from the kick off - I don't think the driver 'operated' the PHV - the operator did. Obviously



https://www.facebook.com/GloucesterCity ... 377083814/

Gloucester City Council has successfully prosecuted a driver for operating a private hire vehicle without a licence and driving without insurance, potentially putting passengers at risk.

Samir Jamshidi, of Priors Road, Cheltenham, pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates Court to using a private hire vehicle without a licence and driving without insurance between 9 May 2025 and 1 June 2025. During this period, Mr Jamshidi undertook journeys for a private hire operator despite having his hackney carriage driver’s licence revoked by a neighbouring local authority.

The court imposed:

• Eight DVLA penalty points on Mr Jamshidi’s driving licence
• A £120 fine
• A victim surcharge of £48
• Prosecution costs of £2,008.60

Cllr Rebecca Trimnell, Gloucester City Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “Gloucester City Council is committed to ensuring the safety of passengers and the legality of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire services in our community. This successful prosecution sends a very clear message that we will not tolerate illegal activity in our city and will take decisive action to protect Gloucester residents and visitors.”

The case was brought by Gloucester City Council’s licensing team, with support from the council’s Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit and One Legal, a shared legal service for Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucester City Council, Stroud District Council, and Tewkesbury Borough Council.

Members of the public can report concerns about suspected unlicensed taxis or private hire vehicles by emailing licensing@gloucester.gov.uk.