Taxi Driver Online

The Sentinel (Stoke)

September 12, 2007 Wednesday

Private hire driver fined after sting

Taxi driver Zahoor Ahmed was fined £250 after plying for hire without the necessary licence.

Ahmed, aged 31, of Green Gates Street, Tunstall, was caught in a sting operation carried out by officers from Newcastle Borough Council, on Saturday, February 3.

He pleaded guilty at Newcastle Magistrates Court yesterday.

Paul Clisby, prosecuting on behalf of the council, said Ahmed was a licensed private hire operator, which meant he could pick up people at pre-arranged points, but not wait for customers. He said that is the right of hackney carriages.

He told the court: "On Saturday, February 3, council officers witnessed a Nissan Primera park on Hassell Street, in Newcastle. It was part of a covert operation. It's a problem in the town centre generally, and an operation was taking place in the town centre on February 2 and 3."

The two officers asked if the driver could take them to a pub on Basford Bank, they got into the car and the driver, Mr Ahmed, pulled away.

Mr Clisby said if private hire vehicles picked up customers, then customers would be more likely to get into any vehicle, including unlicensed cars where the drivers had not been checked.

He reiterated that Ahmed was a licensed private hire driver, but not allowed to pick up fares.

Mr Ahmed, who was unrepresented, said he was waiting to pick up customers and assumed the council officers were his fare.

He said: "I am guilty of the charge because I picked up people I wasn't booked for."

He was told to pay a £250 fine and £200 court costs within two weeks.
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Why is it in one are you get fined and penalty points and in other areas you only get fined?

I suspect the reason he didn't get any points was because he wasn't charged with driving without proper insurance, that's 5-8 points, or 6 via fixed penalty.

He was also prosecuted by the council not the CPS.

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IDFIMH