Issue - meetings

That the applicant was a fit and proper person to hold a Private Hire/Hackney Carriage (Joint) Driver Licence under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and that he be granted to have such a Licence for three years.

HEARING AND DETERMINATION OF THE APPLICATION

The Chairman welcomed the applicant and introduced the Panel members.  He explained the procedure for the hearing, including how the application would be determined.

5.         APPLICATION FOR A PRIVATE HIRE/HACKNEY CARRIAGE (JOINT) DRIVER LICENCE

The Licensing Team Leader presented the report to consider and determine an application for a Private Hire/Hackney Carriage (Joint) Driver Licence.  She explained that the application had asked for details of any previous convictions and on the applicant’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) enhanced criminal records disclosure a number of convictions and separate offences were shown.  Full details of  the convictions were appended to the report.  The applicant was asked to provide a written explanation of his convictions and his response was also appended to the report. The applicant was invited to appear before the Licensing Sub Committee to determine whether he was a fit and proper person to be granted a (Joint) Driver Licence.

The Chairman asked the applicant to explain the circumstances surrounding his  previous convictions.  The applicant said he deeply regretted the offences which had occurred at a difficult time during his youth and referred to his family background at that time.  He emphasised that he had not committed any offence since his last conviction in 2005 and had taken steps to improve his life and was a hardworking and law abiding person who had a family to support.

In response to the questions from the Panel, the applicant provided further details of his previous convictions and the circumstances which had given rise to them.    

The Solicitor questioned the applicant about his employment history and asked him why he had not provided details of his convictions on his application form.  The applicant explained that the offences were old and he did not have the information on his previous DBS record at the time of completing his application but had voluntarily sent this to the Licensing Officer at a later date.   

The Solicitor referred to the conviction for possession of an imitation firearm in a public place and questioned the applicant in detail around the circumstances of the offence.  The Solicitor asked the applicant to give a description of the imitation firearm to assist the Panel.  The applicant explained that the offence had occurred due to a misunderstanding by a police officer of the situation and the reason why he had a replica firearm in his possession. The context in which he had the imitation firearm was explained, including that he was at that time playing with his young children with the PP pellet toy gun. It was explained that the law changed to include those type of pellet toy guns and the change in law took effect about two days prior to the police action which he thought was unfair given the circumstances. He drew attention to the fine he had received for the conviction which he felt indicated that this had been a minor offence. 

The Solicitor asked the applicant if he experienced any difficulty with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4