The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing which related to an application for a new Private Hire Licence along with the representations made by the Licensing officer and the applicant. The Committee also took into consideration their Statement of Policy and Guidelines.

The Applicant was before the Committee as a result of a number of allegations made against him namely:

1.    Rape between 1.7.18 and 8.2.18

2.    Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) on the 1.5.19

3.    Pornographic footage being found on his mobile phone involving sexual activity with a minor.

MA explained he had been engaged in a relationship with a married woman but ended the relationship because he was to go to Pakistan to get married. The married woman he had been involved with continued to contact him, came to his home with a minor, (which sometimes she said was his and other times she claimed was not), and told him she was going to destroy his life and assault his new wife. She made an allegation of Rape against him which he denied and the matter was still being investigated although he had heard nothing from the police since his arrest in May this year.

In relation to the allegation of Actual Bodily Harm, the Applicant stated his ex-girlfriend came to his home with a minor. He had offered her food and drink but she assaulted him by throwing the phone at him, spitting at him and trying to kick him between his legs. He had acted only to restrain her during which she had also bitten him and he had handed his shirt with his blood to the police for examination. His Mother and Brother had been present at the time. He confirmed he had made a counter-allegation.

In respect of the pornographic video on his phone, he stated this was part of social media that was shared and which he had no control over. He stated this was shared by a group or groups he was in from Pakistan, (there were two or three groups he was part of on social media). He said that the police had never shown him the video but had put his phone on ‘recovery’ (i.e. he had deleted the video but they had retrieved it). The police said they would call him for interview but had not yet done so, though his phone had been submitted for forensic examination.  The Applicant stated he received hundreds of these videos.  He stated it was not his minor in the video, nor did he know the male in the video. He confirmed that he had not left those social media groups nor had he contacted the police regarding the items sent to him. He later said he had left the groups and didn’t know where the videos came from.

In respect of the ABH allegation, he said that at the time he did not have a Visa and his ex-wife and her Father treated him like a ‘pet’ i.e. a ‘Yes’ man and decided to teach him a lesson by way of a false allegation when he had an argument about time spent with his sick Mother instead of them.  The Committee noted the Applicant was still under investigation for allegations (1) – (3) and paid little regard at this stage to the allegations at (1) and (2) due to the passage of time with respect to contact from the police. However, whereas the Committee noted the Applicant was still under investigation in relation to the video on his phone, it was noted that he had accepted that the video had been on his phone. The Committee was concerned that he had known what the video contained as he had explained he did not recognise the male in it and the minor was not his.  They were extremely concerned that he referred to being part of groups which sent hundreds of these videos and yet he had not taken any action such that he had been aware they were illegal but had not notified any authority to enable the senders to be traced, and appeared to have turned a blind eye to it/them; of particular concern was the fact the video was not only pornographic but it involved sexual activity with a minor. They noted that the Applicant stated he had deleted himself from the group but also stated he was part of those groups and did not appear to be concerned as to the gravity of the video content.  The Committee noted his conflicting accounts concerning the events.

The Committee paid regard to the Statement of Policy and Guidelines and that it was applicable not only to convictions and cautions but also to ‘other matters’ and they had an overriding duty to public safety and to ensure vulnerable people and passengers are safe. The Committee therefore revoked the Applicant’s Private Hire Driver’s licence with immediate effect in the interests of public safety pursuant to s61(1)(b) and (2B) Local Government (Miscellaneous provisions) Act 1976.

Decision

To revoke the Applicant’s Private Hire Driver’s licence with immediate effect in the interests of public safety pursuant to s61(1)(b) and (2B) Local Government (Miscellaneous provisions) Act 1976.