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| From back in 1995 http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16001 |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | From back in 1995 |
COURT CLOSES TAXI LICENCE 'LEGAL LOOPHOLE' 3 July, 1995 CASE NO: CO/1249/94 ... A legal loophole discovered by a Hull taxi driver which he claimed allowed him to pick up fares in the city without a local licence has been firmly closed by two London High Court judges. But Andrew Wilson had nevertheless been rightly acquitted by magistrates, because the city council had failed to prove a vital element of its case against him, ruled the court. The court heard Hull City Council officers, acting on complaints from local taxi drivers, had posed as customers on May 5 last year in a bid to catch Mr Wilson trading without a licence. One of them telephoned Mr Wilson's home number and the woman who answered said a taxi would be there in five minutes, the Magistrates found. Mr Wilson was at home at the time, but claimed the message had been relayed to his office in Cottingham - where he had a local licence with Beverley Borough Council - and it was there that the booking was accepted. The message was relayed back to the Orchard Park Estate, but Mr Wilson insisted that the fare had not been accepted in Hull so no local licence was required. The Magistrates accepted his plea that the contract to take the fare had been made at Cottingham - outside Hull City Council's area - and acquitted him of trading in the city without a licence. But Mr Justice Buxton told the High Court today that he was in 'no doubt' that the magistrates had been wrong and that the fare had been accepted in Hull. 'The point is that if anyone asked the customer whether the lady who answered the telephone had accepted their booking, the answer would be unequivocally 'Yes''. Lord Justice Balcombe agreed that the loophole relied on by Mr Wilson had been no loophole at all. But the court ruled that there had nevertheless been a 'fatal flaw' in the evidence presented by Hull City Council against the cabbie. Mr Justice Buxton said the council had failed to prove before the Magistrates that the City of Hull was a 'controlled area' for cabs. 'It was incumbent on the local authority - and no doubt it would be a formality - but it was not done,' he said. The court dismissed the City Council's bid to have Mr Wilson's case sent back to the Magistrates Court. |
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