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By Chris Harper
christopher.harper@reachplc.com
@chrisharperDT
A council has insisted taxi safety
is paramount after a driver was com-
plained about four times before he
was taken off the streets.
The cabbie fought another motor-
ist in the street and the video of the
fight, which took place in Westbury
Street in the Stockbrook area of
Derby, went viral and was viewed
more than 100,000 times last Sep-
tember.
The man worked in Derby despite
being licensed in Erewash.
On November 2015, he was alleg-
edly involved in a road rage incident
with another driver and in Septem-
ber 2016 a female passenger said
that he reportedly asked her creepy
questions about being alone and
about her boyfriend.
In October 2016, a fare com-
plained about him reportedly being
rude to passengers but he kept his
licence until the brawl video
emerged in 2017.
Erewash Borough Council said the
first three incidents were “isolated
complaints” which required no fur-
ther action.
But licensing officers had warned
the driver that his licence would be
reviewed if any similar issues were
received.
And a month after the viral video
Brawl taxi
driver had
3 previous
complaints
against him
woman passenger was allegedly asked
‘invasive questions’ by the cabbie
emerged, Erewash’s licensing panel
revoked his licence because they felt
his explanation of the brawl events
was “inadequate and contradictory”.
The council said that as soon as it
was notified that the driver had been
involved in a physical altercation,
the Drivers Licensing Panel moved
quickly to revoke his licence.
The panel members were not sat-
isfied that he was a “fit and proper
person” to hold a hackney carriage/
private hire vehicle driver’s licence.
Despite this ruling, the driver
appealed against the case at South-
ern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court in
February this year but magistrates
refused to give him back his licence
and upheld the council’s decision.
Taxi drivers are able to be licensed
THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2018  DERBY TELEGRAPH
Images showing
the taxi driver,
right, fighting with
a second driver
elsewhere and still drive in Derby
after the national deregulation of
taxis two years ago. Some drivers
have gone outside the city for their
licence due to increased charges
and the introduction of a points-
based assessment scheme here.
Councillor Kewal Singh Athwal,
chair of Erewash Borough Council’s
Drivers Licensing Panel, said: “The
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overriding consideration has to be
the safety of the public. That is para-
mount. As such, it is our duty to
ensure, as far as possible, that those
licensed to drive hackney carriage
and private hire vehicles are suitable
persons.
“We take this very seriously and,
while we took into account the
explanations given by this driver, the
decision was a clear one – that his
licence be revoked.
“This decision was backed by
Southern Derbyshire Magistrates
when they dismissed the driver’s
appeal earlier this year.
“We carry out licence and crimi-
nal conviction checks on our drivers
every year – we are one of the few
local authorities to do these annual
checks rather than every three years.
“When our licensing team receive
any complaint about a driver, that
complaint is considered and, if
appropriate, the driver interviewed.
In this case there had been isolated
complaints, including one received
by the police, where the police took
no further action.
“However, our licensing team
warned the driver that his licence
would be reviewed if any similar
issues were received. Consequently,
when we were made aware of the
filmed altercation involving this
driver we rightly took action very
quickly.”