Taxi Driver Online

thats fine but i know mrs salteri did not attend court, so why am i different? she did not have money to contest so she did not go like me but got lucky and now i cant get justice

Well she has Garry Thompson to thank for that, because it was Mr Thompson who advised Mr Salteri to stick at it.

If my memory serves me well I think it was Mr Thompson who told practically every applicant that his or her applications were lawful and to be quite honest it was then up to all of you to get your act together and formulate a plan of action. The message was correct, it was the application that was at fault in all but a few of these cases. I have great admiration for M&V taxis because they did things the right way and quite frankly that's the way it should have been done by all.

I might also add that I have great admiration for the 3maxblack group because it was they who first put their neck on the line. It is unfortunate that they got a Sheriff of the ability of Mackie.

Regards

JD

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you are right JD and thanks for your advice i still think that because a council can go to court and because the driver does not have the money to defend then even if the sherif makes the wrong decision there is nothing to be done is very bad. The law has not protected me but has helped the council to shaft me and others i hope they get ther plates soon those that are getting them. The council are a disgrace.

And to get my act together and have a plan well i am just a driver i paid my money and applied and should have got my plate should not have needed to have an act or plan.
The sherif was wrong to give them extension lords said it was wrong and it is fact that the sherifs can say different things and later you cant challenge it that seems wrong to me but i dont know the law like you i just applied for a plate thats all.

You are quite right about councils and that is why I fight to right the wrongs that councils inflict on licensed drivers. That also goes for those who think they can enjoy exclusivity of certain Taxi ranks and rail stations.

Regards

JD

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Word on the grapevine is the council are reviewing the whole situation. I don’t know what this means exactly but their options must be narrowing by the minute. I can’t work out what they are going to do and I don’t think they can. It seems they are stalling to buy time to try and find an answer to all of this.

I’ve had a couple of calls telling me that any of the group asking for their plate to be issued is being directed to the council’s court department.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Hi Skull do you think it is still worth my while to do what you said imean write to council? The way JD was talking i am wasting my time as i have been shafted but it must be worth writing to them or do you now think like JD that i should just give up?

Write to the council stating your case then if they refuse go to your MSP. I am writing to the council demanding the licenses we applied for to be granted. If they refuse I am taking it to my new MSP who just happens to be the ex Scottish Justice Minister. Then if all this fails we are looking at a judicial review.

Don’t give up hope just yet there are two applications still in the frame at this moment.

The council are under a lot of pressure but what their next move will be no one knows and I don’t think they do either.

All they have is flawed policies with legal challenges all around them. I can’t see them sustaining their position for much longer, something has to give. Then we will know how and what to attack.

Whether or not you end up with the licence you applied for is a different matter. I would stick with it and get ready with another application in the event the council cave-in sometime in the near future. One things for sure they can't keep this up for ever, their plate "value" situation is only getting worse.

The minute they go near that IPL be ready

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

OK Skull thanks and will go ahead with letter to council.

Please don't misrepresent what I said. The only information I gave you was in respect of your initial application and the way it was processed. I advised you not to spend 850 pounds on a new application and as far as I can see that's exactly what Garry said. I never gave you any other advice in respect of what to do in your circumstance. I can see nothing wrong with the advice that Garry gave you and he is correct when he says that the more pressure applied to CEC would be to the benefit of those who previously applied but it has no guarantee of moving CEC from their present position.

Regards

JD

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All i wanted to know was why i will not get a plate when others in the same position will. Either the sherifs should have granted the extension or they should not have so which is it? The lords seem to say they should not and that the council should have made a decision in 6 months so they will now get a plate. So why is it not the same for me? Why can one sherif say one thing and another the opposite for the same thing? This is what i wanted answered but what i got was "as far as I'm aware every application was processed correctly" well that to me seems to say no point going ahead but then i maybe do not understand you.
Skull said what i wanted to hear that i should not give up yet that is all i was saying i hope you are not offended JD.

I'm not offended, I was re-affirming what I told you. Every application was 'processed correctly' the decisions of the individual sheriffs had nothing to do with the process. If you had turned up in court and opposed the application then things may have been different as it was you didn't turn up and I have no doubt that had a critical bearing on the decision of the sheriff.

Regards

JD

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Glad your not offended but no one turned up in court so some sherif did not take non appearance into account and that is my point.
How can some people not turn up and sherif does one thing and another sherif does the opposite. Also if it is shown by lords that the sherif should not have allowed the extension then why cant that apply to all similar decisions of all the sherifs. there is no consistent behaviour and that is what is hard to understand. If a criminal is wrongly convicted he can go back at any time and appeal when new evidence comes to light so now that the lords have said what the correct position is that the extension should not be given to the council then my question is why can i not go back to court and sort the wrong decision made by the sherif to give the council an extension?

So i suppose no one knows the answer to the above?

In respect of the two Sheriffs who refused CEC their application we can only say they got it right. And the reason we can say they got it right is because the Court of Session said so. With regard to the other Sheriffs and in particular in your case it is obvious they failed to understand the law, or alternately they failed to question the merit of the application in front of them.

A Sheriff has the right to grant or not to grant an extension of time. If you weren't there to remind the Sheriff of the failure of CEC to carry out their duties then you only really have yourself to blame. Those applicants who got Sheriffs Liddle and Horsburgh certainly got lucky and perhaps they were destined to be the catalysts of the high courts momentous decision.

Obviously Garry is the person who brought this decision about because it was he who advised these people to fight for what was rightfully theirs. I may have contributed with a little expertise in licensing law but you can see by the Court of Session judgement that Garry's appraisal of the law was spot on. It doesn't make any difference whether you like Garry or me, the fact is that Garry didn't sell any of the applicants a bum steer.



I'm afraid the courts can only process what they have before them and in this particular instance they were asked to consider only three cases. Not withstanding the fact that three other cases were somewhat joined to these three applications but their consideration only ever amounts to what is placed before them and sadly your case was not one of them.



You had the opportunity to appeal the Sheriff decision, this you failed to do so you can't blame the court for your inaction?

The best advice I can give you is for you and your colleagues to consult a solicitor and see if there is any avenue left open to you. You already know that the actions of the administrative process undertaken by CEC did not amount to a "good reason" for an extension of time, so at least you know where you stand legally. The problem arises in finding a vehicle to get CEC back in court?

Failing that, I would listen to what Garry or Jim Taylor advise in respect of putting preasure on CEC, they are more tuned in to that kind of thing than me.

I hope that brings a little clarity to your consternation.

Regards

JD

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