A taxi driver has had his licence revoked and ordered to pay Bolsover District Council £1,000 in court costs.

The defendant, Mr Best (61) of Sunnyside in Rotherham notified the Council in September 2023 of a speeding offence from the previous month. However, following this, a full check of the defendants DVLA licence was carried out and it revealed that he had an additional speeding offence for which the Council did not have record of notification. Mr Best had previously received a written warning for failure to notify in 2020. Failure to notify and notify within a specified time are a breach of the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy and these facts were also taken into account.

Mr Best attended a Licensing Sub-Committee on Thursday 1 February 2024 to consider whether he remained a ‘fit and proper’ person to hold a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Vehicle Drivers Licence.

The committee took into account the number, type and frequency of speeding offences accrued, which was a total of five speeding offences since September 2014 while also noting that the last two speeding offences occurred within six-months of each other. In addition, one of the speeding offences occurred within the previous six-months of the hearing. The committee voted unanimously to revoke his licence on the basis that they believed he was no longer fit and proper to drive a taxi, which Mr Best appealed.

The appeal was heard at Chesterfield Magistrates Court on Wednesday 22 May 2024 and upon hearing the evidence, the Magistrates upheld the Councils decision and awarded £1,000 in costs.

Mr Best argued that some of his convictions were ‘spent’, that he was a safe driver and the speeding offences were made in error, but the Council rebutted stating that convictions are never ‘spent’ in taxi licensing cases.

Council policy also states that ‘Hackney carriage and private hire drivers are expected to have a higher standard of driving competency than the average driver’.

Source: Derbyshire Times