Agenda item

To determine a private hire/hackney carriage driver’s licence.

The Chairman introduced the Panel and explained procedure to the applicant.

The Licensing Officer gave a summary of the report. The applicant had disclosed a TS10 offence in 2013 and convictions between 1986 and 1994 which included ABH, GBH, criminal damage, driving without a licence, insurance and MOT, and possession of a shotgun. The applicant therefore did not meet the Council’s licensing standards for drivers as although his convictions were spent in accordance with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, the Council’s Licensing Standards stated that an applicant must have no criminal convictions for an offence of dishonesty, indecency or violence in respect of which a custodial sentence (including a suspended custodial sentence) was imposed.

The applicant said the offences between 1986 and 1994 began when he was growing up and was in with a band of people who did not do good things. He had spiralled into a criminal life. Since then he had made an effort to correct his mistakes. He had made money, started a business met his current wife and been driving buses for a living.

At 10.25 the Committee retired to make its decision.

At 10.40 the Committee returned. The Chairman read the decision to the applicant.

DECISION NOTICE –

The applicant’s application dated 15^th November 2018 is for a Private Hire/Hackney Carriage Driver’s licence.  If successful, he has an offer of employment from 24 x 7 Ltd on school contract runs.

The applicant’s application form disclosed a 2013 TS10 motoring offence in respect of which he is a rehabilitated person. However, he also provided a supplementary sheet disclosing a number of serious historic convictions dated between1986 and 1995. An enhanced DBS certificate, a copy of which is before us, dated 11^th December 2018 supplied further details of 13 convictions, which  means that the applicant does not meet Point 5 of the Council’s Licensing Standards, which state that a driver must have:-

“No criminal convictions for an offence of dishonesty, indecency or violence in respect of which a custodial sentence (including a suspended custodial sentence) was imposed.”

The Enhanced DBS Check, under the applicant’s former name,  revealed the following matters:-

1.     6.5.86 – possession of an offensive weapon, burglary and theft, TWOC x 3, theft from the person, vehicle interference, theft from vehicle – 36 hours attendance centre x 10 to run concurrently, 12 months disqualification  – Havering JJ

2.    8.5.86 – TWOC, driving without a licence, driving without insurance, vehicle interference – 36 hours attendance centre, 12 months conditional discharge – Havering JJ

3.    9.12.86 – driving while disqualified, criminal damage, possession of a shotgun without certificate – 90 days detention centre x 3, 12 months disqualification from driving – Havering JJ

4.    3.11.87 TWOC x 2, driving whilst disqualified – 6 months Youth Custody x 3, 2 years disqualification from driving – Havering JJ

5.    27.6.88 – ABH – 3 years’ probation, costs and compensation totalling £170.00 – Havering JJ

6.    9.3.90 – GBH, ABH – 18 months imprisonment partly suspended  for 12 months – Snaresbrook Crown Court

7.    21.6.90 – shop theft, possession of an offensive weapon, TWOC, using false documents with intent to deceive, plus a number of other offences not separately dealt with – 3 months imprisonment x 2, bound over for 2 years, £100 fine – Snaresbrook Crown Court

8.    15.3.91 – TWOC – fined  £100.00, costs £40.00 – Havering JJ

9.    16.8.91 - burglary and theft -  4 months imprisonment – Weston Super mare JJ

10.  2013.92 – theft from vehicle, Bail Act offence – 40 hours community service, £30.00 costs – North Somerset JJ

11.  19.12.94 – police assault – 2 months imprisonment  - Havering JJ

12.  27.10.95 – common assault, theft – 80 hours community service, £20.00 compensation – Snaresbrook Crown Court

This makes sorry reading.

Though the applicant  is a rehabilitated person in respect of all these offences under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, this legislation does not apply to all eventualities, and included among these is the holding of Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Drivers licences.

The applicant sent in an e-mail statement to the Licensing Dept to give some background information and to explain why he thinks he is a fit and proper person to hold a licence despite his conviction history. In essence the applicant explained that he was the second eldest child in a family of 9 and his father was rarely around as he was always working. As a youngster he and his friends used to hang around without anything constructive to do and no supervision. He explained that before long he found himself “in a spiral of bad behaviour with no one to look to for guidance”. Eventually he realised he was wasting his life and tried to turn things around. In 1992 he got married and although that marriage didn’t last and his last 2 convictions occurred while the marriage was failing and during his divorce, it did give him a taste of ‘normal’ life. The applicant’s last conviction was in 1995.

Following this he relocated and secured employment working at a concrete ornament yard. He took his driving test and once he had a licence he was able to start his own business selling the ornaments he had made around Essex. In October 1996 he began work at a bus depot in Tottenham Hale starting as a sweeper, but was subsequently promoted to a supervisory role. In 2002 the applicant took his PSV test and became a bus driver on public service routes, driving in London, Kent, Lincolnshire, Kings Lynn and then driving more local routes in Havering and Thurrock. 

The applicant re-married and now has 5 children aged between 4 and 16. He very much regrets the time he wasted in his youth and is sorry for the people he wronged. He has turned his life around and has not had any convictions since 1995. 24 x 7 Ltd support his application.

We have listened to what the applicant has to say, and we are satisfied that he has turned his life around. He has made an impressive showing before us and accordingly we grant this application. He will receive the paperwork from the Licensing Department in due course.