Agenda item

Mr Mansour Mosayeb Khozani - PHD068

The Licensing Officer, Phil Cooper, introduced the report regarding a review of the private hire driver’s licence of Mr Mansour Mosayeb Khozani-PHD068 which was due for renewal on 16 February 2020. Mr Khozani had a recent conviction having plied for hire without a licence on 15 March 2017 during the Cheltenham Festival. The incident was reported and Mr Khozani entered guilty pleas by post on the charges of plying for hire (without the licence for doing so) and driving without insurance. He was fined £200 for plying for hire, £700 for driving without insurance and received 6 penalty points as well as being ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge. Mr Khozanii was a relatively new driver and as part of his licence application process he undertook a written test to assess his knowledge of among other subjects, the rules and laws relating to being a private hire driver. As part of that test, which Mr Khozani took less than a month before committing the offence, he confirmed that he understood that private hire vehicles must be pre-booked through an operator. There had been no other complaints against Mr Khozani.

Mr Khozani was accompanied at the meeting by Mr Yavari, his friend and former employer, a Gloucestershire businessman, who was there to provide a character reference for Mr Khozani. Mr Khozani was invited to address the committee. He said he had made a mistake and very much regretted his action. He had been found guilty in court and would pay the fine. He promised this action would not be repeated. He emphasised that he was respectful to his customers and the community.

In response to questions from Members Mr Khozani :

• Said he did not realise that he had invalidated his insurance by accepting the hire. He was new in the job and admitted he had not thoroughly read the terms and conditions. He regretted his actions.
• He was new to taxi driving. Prior to this occupation he had worked in kitchens and takeaways since arriving in the country in 2001
• He acknowledged that he had been stupid and greedy in picking the officers up. He apologised for the mistake he had made.

Mr Khozanis’s referee Mr Yavari said he had known Mr Khozani for 10 years as he had worked for him. He trusted him and said Mr Khozani was a man of good character. He fully supported the fact that he was a fit and proper person.

In response to a question the Licensing Officer confirmed that the licensing team had become aware of the issue on the night the offence took place and had subsequently prosecuted Mr Khozani.

The following points were raised during the debate :

• Members felt Mr Khozani had been heavily punished already by the Court. Their role was to determine whether he was deemed to be a fit and proper person.  He had exposed passengers to risk in terms of driving without valid insurance when he plied for hire. They were hopeful that his experience through the Courts had chastened him enough to prevent him repeating the mistake. It was vital that he took seriously his position of driving the public without risk.

• Members proposed an amendment to resolution 1.3.1 to include instructing officers to issue a warning letter to remain on file. Members unanimously supported this amendment.

Upon a vote it was unanimous, 5 for, 0 against

RESOLVED THAT

Mr Khozani’s private hire driver’s licence be continued with the addition of a written warning because the sub-committee was satisfied that Mr Khozani was a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.