A cabbie from Stoke-on-Trent will have to fork out more than £400 after plying for trade illegally in Stone.
Majid Akram, aged 34, was stopped after a joint operation between police and Stafford Borough Council to crack down on rogue minicabs. This is the third successful prosecution over the last few weeks following the joint operation by the police and council.
A District Judge at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates’ Court heard Akram agreed to take two plain-clothed policemen to a local pub when they approached his Lucky Seven private hire vehicle in Granville Square.
Private hire drivers can only pick up passengers that have booked in advance – and it is illegal for them to collect customers in the street or from a taxi rank. Private hire vehicles that ply for hire invalidate their insurance and put their passengers and other drivers at risk in the event of an accident. The ‘Safer Nights’ operation aims to reduce the risks to residents of uninsured and unsafe vehicles on the roads in the borough.
After a trial, Akram – of Lightwood Road, Stoke – was found guilty of plying for hire in an unlicensed vehicle in September. He was given a £100 fine, ordered to pay costs of £300 and a £20 victim surcharge when he appeared before the Newcastle court on Tuesday 10th February. Mr Akram had denied the charge.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Health, Councillor Frank Finlay, said following the case: “We are determined to clamp down on private hire drivers who stick two fingers up at the law by coming into the borough and picking up residents with no prior booking. One of our top priorities is the health and wellbeing of our community and this operation aims to protect the public as they are at risk, because these vehicles will not be insured if they are picking up passengers in this way.”
