A Bristol cabbie suspected of multiple speeding offences has been stripped of his licence after blaming a friend who rented his car. The private hire driver was also accused of using laughing gas and littering, which he denied, but city councillors ruled it indicated a pattern of behaviour that raised doubts about his suitability to hold a permit and showed his standards had fallen “well below” those expected.
They revoked both his driver and vehicle licences after hearing he was convicted by Bath magistrates earlier this year of speeding in April 2022 and failing to provide driver’s identification in relation to another speeding offence last January. They ruled that he dishonestly tried to pin three previous speeding offences, in a six-week period in 2021, on a fellow driver who rented his vehicle but who was unlicensed and should not have taken passengers because of a conviction for failing to provide documents for an offence.
Recently published minutes of the Bristol City Council public safety and protection sub-committee on August 16 said Avon and Somerset Police’s taxi compliance officer raised concerns with the local authority in June about the licence holder’s “fit and proper” status. The papers said three speeding offences in June and July, 2021, were committed either by him, referred to as OMM, or a man he nominated to drive the car on his behalf, AR, but that the person behind the wheel had “failed to provide appropriate identification when required to do so and may have conspired to pervert the course of justice”.
