The council successfully
defended its decision on two separate licenses at appeals at Huddersfield
Magistrates on Friday 3 November 2017.
The first case involved a driver
who had failed to inform the council of a serious offence for which he had
previously been convicted.
In one case the driver was a new
applicant who failed to inform the council of serious offence he had committed.
The offence committed cast doubt into the honesty of the driver and as someone
who could be trusted to deal fairly with paying customers as such the council
refused his application. The driver appealed the decision by the Council
not to grant a license but the Magistrates agreed with the council’s decision.
In the other case an existing
driver appealed the removal of his badge. The council took the decision to
revoke the licence of one of its taxi drivers following a collision that
resulted in the fatality of a pedestrian.
The collision took place in 2015
and the driver was found not guilty of death by careless driving however the
Licensing authority had concerns over the conduct of the driver immediately
after the accident. The driver had fare paying passengers in his vehicle at the
time the collision occurred, he failed to stop and continued with the journey,
he then went on to pick up another passenger, all whilst there was
substantial damage to the vehicle.
The driver in question appealed
the council‘s decision to revoke his licence however this was dismissed, with
the chair of the Magistrates commenting that ‘The council made entirely the
right decision’ and awarded the council our costs.
Cllr Mather Cabinet member
with responsibility for enforcement said: “The council takes its enforcement
role very seriously, and will always look to take action where it is necessary
to ensure that the people of Kirklees can live and travel safely.”
Cllr Carol Pattison, Chair of
Licensing Committee said: “The council is committed to the safety of the
travelling public and takes all possible measures to ensure this safety.
The successful outcome of this appeal demonstrates the importance of our
continuous partnership with the West Yorkshire Police.”
