Drivers refused taxi licences over convictions

Stockton Council refused two drivers private hire licences due to past convictions

Two drivers have been refused private hire licences because of previous convictions, including careless driving and assault.

One driver applied to Stockton Council for a new licence, but had live DVLA points and a driving conviction, while another had convictions for assault and criminal damage.

The council's general licensing committee heard the first motorist had a written warning following a complaint about driving standards in 2019, a conviction for careless driving in 2019 and a fixed penalty notice for using a phone while driving in 2024.

The committee decided the driver was not a "fit and proper person" to hold a private hire driver's licence.

The driver's representative argued the fixed penalty notice did not amount to a conviction and was wrongly issued because the phone was in a cradle, but the general licensing committee said there was no supporting evidence to prove the claim.

The minutes said it "expressed concern about the pattern of driving-related incidents within a relatively short period".

"Members agreed that, taken together, the history indicated behaviour falling below the standard expected of a licensed driver," they added.

'Not his fault'

In a separate case, a driver's convictions were revealed in a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

The driver in that case had convictions for assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage from 2020.

He told the committee he had been "trapped by two people that he knew" and acted in self-defence, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said there were issues of a personal nature and he felt the convictions were not his fault and out of his control, but pleaded guilty on his solicitor's advice "to save time and stress".

However the committee also refused his application, saying the convictions were "listed as offences of a violent nature under the council's licensing policy".