Wonder if he'd been prosecuted if he'd just withdrawn his application and admitted his dishonesty?
Interesting case and legal stuff, though, and I wonder how many cases like this there would be if all dishonest applications were prosecuted
Burnley taxi driver lied about previous convictions to obtain licence
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/n ... n-licence/
A taxi driver has been convicted of making a false statement in order to obtain a licence.
On June 28 2022, Zaheer Abbas, applied for the grant of a private hire and hackney carriage driver’s licence from Chorley Council.
In support of his application, he declared he had never been convicted of an offence and he had never had a licence revoked by another council.
In fact, he had been convicted by Manchester Magistrates’ Court in 2017 for an offence of unlawfully plying for hire.
Following this, he had his hackney carriage driver licence revoked by Rossendale Borough Council.
This dishonesty was identified by Chorley Council officers during their usual licensing checks and an investigation was launched with Abbas withdrawing his application for a licence shortly after.
Abbas, 41, was then invited to explain his actions on several occasions, confirming to officers he was going to attend an interview under caution before then failing to attend.
His actions generated hundreds of pounds in interpreter costs.
Regardless of his failure to assist with the investigation, the council decided to charge Abbas for an offence contrary to Section 57 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.
Abbas pleaded guilty to this offence but requested a court hearing to mitigate the sentence.
Following a hearing at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court on March 8, Abbas, of Carlton Street, Burnley, was convicted of the offence and sentenced to a fine of £120, reduced to £80 due to his early guilty plea and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £32 and the council’s costs of £539.
Rossendale Borough Council provided a witness statement as part of the proceedings.
Following the successful prosecution, private hire and Hackney carriage licence applicants are being urged to be honest with the council about past convictions.
Chair of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee, Councillor Matthew Lynch said: “This is great result for the team and a great example of partnership working.
"We are robust in our application checks and our message for prospective drivers is to be honest with us about past applications and convictions because we will find out.
“If they are not completely honest with the council when applying for a licence, they could find themselves with a criminal record and a hefty fine to pay.
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