Agenda item

The Director of Environment and Community Services submitted an exempt report in connection with the review of Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 05/25, where circumstances had arisen which required special consideration by the Committee.

 

The Chair introduced those present and outlined the procedure to be followed.  The driver, who was in attendance at the meeting accompanied by his representative, verified his name and address and confirmed he had received a copy of the report and understood its contents. 

 

The Principal Licensing Officer advised the Committee that the Licensing Team had obtained a recording of a voicemail message left on the driver’s phone when he had attempted to contact the passenger for payment.  This would be played to the Committee.

 

The driver’s representative wished to make two amendments to the submitted report.  The first was to clarify, at page three of the report, that the driver had completed the full journey without having his mobile phone, and the second was in relation to page two of the report to clarify that one of the two males referred to, was the male that had initially got into the driver’s taxi on the first occasion.

 

The Principal Licensing Officer presented a summary of the report outlining that the applicant appeared before Members as a result of recent matters that had arisen which raised concerns over his suitability to continue being licensed driver with Middlesbrough Council.

 

The driver was first licensed with Middlesbrough Council in May 2024 and his current licence was due to expire in April 2025.

 

Members were advised that the Licensing Office received an email on 30 January 2025 from the driver’s operator stating that his account had been deactivated as a result of him taking a direct booking from a passenger without notifying the operator and subsequently messaging the female passenger on social media.  A copy of the email was attached at Appendix 1.  The email included screen shots of the messages.

 

The messages initially were from the driver to the female passenger providing his bank details for payment of the journey undertaken, however, they became hostile and abusive and then threatening when the female refused to pay the fare.  The driver was subsequently interviewed by his operator regarding the incident and they decided to no longer employ him.  The decision was as a result of the social media messages and the operator confirmed that no-one had made a complaint to them directly.

 

The driver was interviewed by the Licensing Manager and a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 31 January 2025 regarding the illegal booking and the content of the social media messages.

 

The driver provided his version of events in relation to the incident which was detailed in the submitted report.

 

The Principal Licensing Officer advised the Committee that Cleveland Police had confirmed that the driver had reported the incident but that the case had been closed with no further action being taken.

 

The driver’s representative presented the case in support of the driver, providing background information in relation to the driver and his personal circumstances, and details of the incident and the subsequent messages.

 

The recording of a threatening voicemail message left on the driver’s phone was played to the Committee.

 

The driver and his representative responded to questions from Members of the Committee.

 

It was confirmed that there were no further questions and the driver, his representative, and Officers of the Council, other than representatives of the Council’s Legal and Democratic Services teams, withdrew from the meeting whilst the Committee determined the review. 

 

Subsequently, all parties returned, and the Chair announced a summary of the Committee’s decision and highlighted that the driver would receive the full decision and reasons within five working days.

 

ORDERED that Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 05/25, be revoked, with immediate effect, as follows:-

 

Authority to act

 

1.    Under Section 61 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976 (“the Act”) the Committee may revoke or suspend a Private Hire/Hackney Carriage Vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds that:-

 

2.    Since the grant of the licence, the driver had been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty, indecency or violence;

 

3.    Since the grant of the licence, the driver had committed an offence or breached the Act or the Town Police Clauses Act 1847;

 

4.    For any other reasonable cause. 

 

5.    Under Section 61(2B) of the Act, if it appeared to be in the interests of public safety, the Committee could decide that the revocation was to have immediate effect.

 

6.    The Committee considered Section 61 of the Act, the Middlesbrough Council Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Policy 2022 (“the Policy”), the report and representations made by the driver and his representative.

 

7.    The review of the licence was considered on its own particular facts and on its merits.

 

Decision

 

8.    After carefully considering all of the information, the Licensing Committee decided to revoke the driver’s Private Hire Vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds of any other reasonable cause.  It decided that the revocation was to have immediate effect in the interests of public safety under section 61(2B) of the Act. 

 

Reasons

 

9.    The Policy confirmed that the Council’s licensed drivers should be safe drivers with good driving records and adequate experience, sober, mentally and physically fit, be honest and not persons who would take advantage of their employment to abuse or assault passengers.

 

10.  The Policy confirmed that criminal convictions were not the only criteria used when considering whether an individual was a fit and proper person to be licensed. The Council can consider circumstances of concern even though a conviction has not been obtained or the conduct does not amount to a criminal offence.  In assessing the action to take, the safety of the travelling public must be the paramount concern.

 

11.  A licensed driver should be courteous, avoid confrontation, not exhibit prejudice, not take the law into their own hands and demonstrate conduct befitting to the trust that was placed in them.

 

12.  The Policy on Convictions was set out at Appendix G, Policy on the Relevance of Convictions, Cautions, Reprimands, Warnings, Complaints and Character.

 

13.  The driver had been licensed as a Private Hire Vehicle Driver with the Council since 14 May 2024, with the current licence due to expire on 30 April 2025.

 

14.  On 30 January 2025, Licensing Officers were informed by the driver’s operator, that the driver’s account had been suspended due to an incident whereby he had taken a direct booking from a female passenger without notifying the operator.  Furthermore, the driver had been messaging the passenger privately.

 

15.  Licensing Officers reviewed the messages, which began on 7 January 2025, and despite the messages initially being a general request for the fare, the driver’s language, tone and context quickly became abusive and threatening towards the passenger.  The driver and the passenger then exchanged back-and-forth threatening messages.

 

16.  The driver was interviewed by Licensing Officers on 31 January 2025 and stated that after he had finished a journey and was waiting for another job to be allocated, a male and a female had entered his car.  The driver stated that the male grabbed him by the throat and demanded that they were taken to an address.  The driver stated that the individuals had not booked the job but out of fear, he complied with the request.  The driver informed Officers that the female had provided her phone number so that she could make a payment for the journey, as agreed, by bank transfer.

 

17.  Upon completion of the journey, the driver informed Officers that his personal phone had been taken from the storage compartment between the front seats, so he called the number of the female passenger who in turn requested he return to the drop off address to collect it.  When he returned, the male passenger from the previous journey and another male left the property and demanded to be taken to another location or the driver would not get his phone back.  Once he had taken the individuals to the location, his phone was returned.

 

18.  The driver indicated that his English was not the best and that the messages were referencing punching people rather than sexual violence.  He further stated that he believed he was talking to a male and not a female when sending the expletive messages.

 

19.  The driver, in interview, then alleged that he was being blackmailed by the passengers to send them money, otherwise they would share the screenshots and report him to his operator.

 

20.  At the Committee hearing, Members heard that the driver was terrified of the individuals and that was why he originally did not report the incident to the Police.  It was confirmed that the matter was subsequently reported, and no further action was taken, and the matter was now closed.

 

21.  The Committee believed that there were inconsistencies with the driver’s account of the incident. Further, the Committee was extremely concerned about the nature of the messages sent by the driver in which they determined there been a serious threat of sexual violence against the female passenger.

 

22.  The Committee did not believe the driver’s account that he thought he was talking to a male on the texts and that he intended to say ‘him’ not ‘her’, when making a direct threat, nor did the Committee believe that the driver’s intended use of the explicit phrases meant physical violence rather than a sexual threat.

 

23.  The Committee considered the Policy, specifically the references to a driver avoiding confrontation, as well as the Private Hire Driver Licence Conditions and Code of Conduct, which made references to behaving in a civil and orderly manner and behaving in professional manner, respectively.

 

24.  The Committee believed that the nature and seriousness of the driver’s messages, specifically the threat of sexual violence, was a risk to public safety, and that the driver was not a ‘fit and proper’ person, therefore, the decision was made to revoke the driver’s licence with immediate effect.

 

25.  If the driver was aggrieved by the decision he may appeal to a Magistrates Court within 21 days from the date of the notice of the decision.  The local magistrates for the area was the Teesside Justice Centre, Teesside Magistrates, Victoria Square, Middlesbrough.

 

26.  If the driver did appeal the decision and the appeal was dismissed by the Magistrates Court, the Council will claim its costs in defending its decision from the driver which could be in the region of £1,000.