Cabbie accused of raping passenger makes new bid for taxi licence

A former cab driver who faced an allegation of raping a female passenger has failed in his bid to regain his taxi licence. A panel of members from Bury Council met to consider the application from a man, whose name has has not been made public, for a Hackney Carriage driver licence to operate in Bury.

The applicant was in attendance at the 40-minute hearing along with a family member. The panel heard that the driver had held such a licence 2012 and was working as a taxi driver in Bury when an allegation of serious sexual assault, said to have taken place inside his taxi, was made against him.

Published minutes from the meeting, said: “This applicant had previously held a Hackney Carriage Driver licence granted by Bury Council. On September 5, 2012, he appeared before the licensing and safety panel in relation to an allegation of rape on a female passenger which resulted in his licence being revoked.

“He appealed the panel decision to Bury Magistrates and his appeal was dismissed.”

The applicant had since tried to regain a Hackney Carriage or private hire taxi licence from Bury Council in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 which were all refused. He again attempted to gain a private hire licence in late 2022.

The minutes stated that as per the application process the applicant submitted himself to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

The resultant certificate was issued last September and contained no information. Previous DBS certificates had contained information that had been disclosed in previous panel reports. The report, said: “This information had been previously disclosed at the chief police officer’s discretion and was contained within the private agenda pack.

“Greater Manchester Police believed that this information was relevant and ought to be disclosed despite the fact that this applicant was not charged with any offences, because he is applying for the role of taxi driver and the information relates to an allegation from 2012. This disclosure relates to the incident which resulted in his previously held licence being revoked.

“Further information contained in the report detailed the council’s policy and guidelines on sexual and indecency offences along with intelligence and other information which had not resulted in a criminal conviction.”

The report said that the applicant explained to the panel that he had ‘learnt his lesson for the previous mistake which took place and apologised to the committee, asking for a second chance’. He said ‘he was a changed person and would not let people down’.

A family member representative provided the committee with some family background information and stated what occurred in 2012 was wrong.

She stated that the applicant was truthful and honest and he also undertook community work which involved females and there had been no complaints made. The report, said: “The council’s legal representative clarified with the applicant that he asserted that the incident which occurred in 2012 was consensual and he regretted this.”

The panel decided to refuse the application, finding the applicant was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence. Their decision, said: “While there was no conviction, the applicant accepted the 2012 incident was in a licensed vehicle, which was not appropriate conduct.

“Public safety was paramount and the committee had no confidence in the applicant carrying lone female passengers who could be vulnerable at any time of day or night.”