Report of the Corporate Director Environment.
Minutes:
The Chair introduced the Sub-Committee and the officers attending the meeting.
The driver’s legal representative and complainant introduced themselves. The Sub-Committee agreed to the admission of further written information from the driver. The Chair ensured that the driver and witness had received all necessary information and paperwork for the hearing.
The Senior Licensing Officer introduced the report. He explained that the driver was before members because a complaint had been received.
The complainant outlined his complaints and answered questions from the driver’s legal representative and a member of the Sub-Committee.
The legal representative spoke on behalf of the driver. The representative highlighted that the driver was of good character, having no criminal or driving convictions against him. He explained that he had been a licenced driver since 2010 and had previously received no formal complaints made against him. He clarified that a driver improvement course was offered as an alternative to a prosecution.
The driver and legal representative answered questions from members of the Sub-Committee and Senior Licensing Officer.
The complainant and driver and his legal representative were each then invited to sum up their cases.
The driver, legal representative, witness and the Senior Licensing Officer left the chamber to allow the Sub-Committee to discuss the matter in private session.
In reaching its decision, the Sub-Committee had regard to:
1. The Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy including its Convictions and Other Relevant Matters Policy for Wyre Council
2. The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976
3. All information presented within the report and at the hearing, including the character references in support of the driver.
The Sub-Committee then reconvened and the Chair announced the decision. The Chair outlined the rights of appeal and said that a letter would be sent setting out the full reasons for the decision.
Decision
The Sub-Committee resolved to suspend the driver’s Wyre Dual Driver’s Licence for a period of three months.
Summary Reasons for decision
It was not disputed that the driver had been involved in a collision that resulted in an injury to a cyclist whilst driving privately and had accepted attendance on a driver improvement course. The Sub-Committee found that the course was in lieu of a prosecution for driving without due care and attention. The Sub-Committee found that the matter should have been reported by the driver to the Licensing Authority pursuant to the Convictions and Other Relevant Matters Policy but was not. The matter came to light only by chance as a result of a telephone discussion overheard by the complainant on the journey. The driver was not a newly licensed driver and should have been well aware of the requirement to report.
The Sub-Committee found the complainant to be impartial and their evidence to be persuasive. It accepted the complainant’s account of the driver’s use of the mobile phone in the course of the journey, which was at times through less well lit roads. It found that although the phone was in a cradle, the extent of the driver’s use was excessive and of such an extent that the complainant was reasonable in having felt unsafe due to the drivers use of the phone and in breach of the driver’s duty to the travelling public.
The Sub-Committee took into account all the mitigating factors in this case but considered that its findings were of sufficient seriousness to warrant suspension.