Two cabbies' licence bids rejected after 'knives, sexual violence and drugs' details emerge

Two cabbies' licence bids were rejected after 'knives, sexual violence and drugs' details emerge.

A Middlesbrough Council Licensing Committee report details the refusal for the private hire licences from two of the authorities' former drivers.

The document explains one applicant had previously held a private hire driver’s licence between 2017 and 2018, and a combined private hire/hackney carriage driver licence from 2019 until 2023 - at which point her combined licence was revoked with "immediate effect".

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This was due to a prior incident, “where the applicant and a 16-year-old passenger were arrested for alleged possession with intent to supply a class B drug”, the report's minutes state.

The woman explained she knew the 16 year-old and agreed to transport him, free of charge and without putting the journey through the operator’s system. “A subsequent search of the applicant’s taxi found a knife, machete and £150 in cash”, the papers say.

The driver explained she knew the passenger was from a “troubled background” and was trying to help him. The report states: “The applicant stated the passenger asked her for a favour and needed a lift from the Sporting Lodge hotel into Middlesbrough for some hot food."

It adds that the applicant also explained they were having a bad day and "had lots going on in their head". When arriving at Park Road South, the passenger was talking to someone on the street, who got in the car. While wanting to turn around (as the street is a dead end), the applicant noticed an unmarked police vehicle behind her. At this point, the driver “became aware that the second passenger, who had just got into her vehicle, had gotten out".

“Officers from the vehicle behind intervened and they were arrested after the passenger she had given a lift to was found to be in possession of drugs and that two large knives were recovered from behind the driver’s seat in a black bag,” the committee report added.

The Licensing Committee refused the application for a private hire vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds that it was not satisfied the applicant was "a fit and proper person to be granted such a licence”.

'Drugs and sexual violence'

Another applicant, previously licensed with Middlesbrough Council in 2016, also reapplied for his licence after previously being stripped of it.

Concerns had been raised in 2020 by the council “regarding the driver’s behaviour in relation to drug-taking and sexual violence towards his wife”, the report states. The driver had admitted to a “family social worker that he had taken cocaine”, as well as other information provided by police in August 2017 that he “had touched a female passenger’s leg inappropriately”.

On April 24, 2020, the driver took a drug test with the result flagging as negative. However, he admitted to taking cocaine on four or five occasions previously”. After consultation with the council’s legal team, it was decided to “revoke his licence with immediate effect”. The driver’s resulting appeal was dismissed in November 2020.

The report continued, that in November 2023, when the man made a fresh application, Cleveland Police disclosed to licensing officers that he had been arrested in January 2024, for harassment and drug driving above the speed limit.

The Licensing Committee refused the request for a private hire vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds that despite him not having a criminal record, there were concerns about his conduct. The panel ruled it "was not satisfied the applicant was a fit and proper person to be granted such a licence”, the report says.

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