Taxi licence blocked over criminal past
http://www.ayrshirepost.net/ayrshire-ne ... -25085007/
A MAN with 80 convictions tried to get a taxi driver’s licence in South Ayrshire.
But his bid was unanimously rejected by shocked councillors.
For they saw pages of convictions that included burglary, theft, shoplifting, assault and drugs offences.
There was also a host of road traffic offences against Lee Anthony Siedlecki’s name.
Mr Siedlecki, of The Bungalow, Bogend Farm, Catrine, opted to appear in private in front of a council regulatory panel – so the public and press weren’t allowed to hear his plea.
But he would have needed incredible powers of persuasion to convince councillors he should be allowed to drive a taxi in South Ayrshire.
Many of his convictions are from magistrates’ courts in Essex.
But there is also a drugs offence, dealt with at Ayr Sheriff Court in 1990.
So Mr Siedlecki, who is in his 40s, seems to have links with Ayrshire going back some time.
And records show he may have lived in Crosshill village in 2001.
It is understood that Strathclyde Police objected in the strongest possible terms to Mr Siedllecki gaining a taxi driver’s licence.
And an officer told councillors that the weighty criminal record meant he simply wasn’t ‘a fit and proper and person’ for such a responsible job.
Mr Siedlecki’s first adult conviction was 22 years ago in 1987.
It is also understood his convictions were under the name Walker, but he appears to have changed his surname.
A council insider told the Post: “Our overriding concern in issuing licences has to be the public.
“And what the police told us indicated an unacceptable risk.
“Therefore, the councillors unanimously agreed with the police view that Mr Siedlecki is not a fit and proper person to be a taxi driver.”
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