Agenda item

Mr Giuseppe Maurizio Licata

Amelia Byres, Senior Licensing Officer introduced the report as circulated with the agenda.  An application had been received from Mr Giuseppe Maurizio Licata for a hackney carriage driver’s licence.  Members were advised that Mr Licata had previously been a licensed hackney carriage driver with Cheltenham Borough Council until 2009 when he had received a drink-driving conviction and had surrendered his hackney carriage badge.  Mr Licata had returned with a new application in 2011 at which time he had six points on his Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) driver’s licence for using a mobile phone whilst driving and speeding on the motorway.  The application had been referred to the Licensing Committee which had subsequently been refused. The Council’s Policy on the Relevance of Convictions sets out that, where a disqualification has occurred as a result of a drink-driving offence, at least five years free from conviction from the date of the restoration of the DVLA licence should normally elapse before an applicant is considered for a licence, however, at that time the Licensing Committee had suggested that Mr Licata submit another application in two years.  Rather than waiting for that period to elapse, Mr Licata had submitted another application in March 2012 which had also been refused by the Licensing Committee.  Two years had now passed since the Licensing Committee in 2011 and Mr Licata had submitted a new application, however, it was noted that, since his last application, Mr Licata had received a caution for possessing a controlled Class B drug.  The Council’s policy in respect of drink-driving convictions continued to set out that at least five years should normally elapse before an applicant was considered for a licence, despite the Committee’s suggestion in 2011 that Mr Licata reapply in two years.  In addition, the policy set out that an application from an applicant with an isolated conviction for an offence related to the possession of drugs within the last three years would require careful consideration of the facts.  Members were required to determine whether, based on all the information, Mr Licata was a fit and proper person to hold a hackney carriage driver’s licence.

Mr Licata had attended the meeting and spoke in support of his application.  He explained that he had some old school friends visiting him during race week in 2012 and they had asked him to get hold of the drugs.  On 15 March 2012, Gold Cup day, he had been walking home at around midnight when he had been stopped by police for a spot check and found with the drugs.  In relation to his drink-driving conviction, Mr Licata advised that he had now been driving for a year in the UK and 8 months in Dubai without any points on his licence.  He wanted an opportunity to get his life back on track and was ready to get back to work and earn a living.

Members were invited to ask questions of Mr Licata, during which the following points were raised:

·        A Member sought clarification as to whether Mr Licata had bought the drugs for use by his friends and Mr Licata confirmed that they had asked him to get the drugs for them to take at the races.  It was a special occasion and they wanted to have a good time on what was the most popular day in the Cheltenham calendar.

·        A Member questioned whether Mr Licata continued to use drugs recreationally.  Mr Licata explained that he was an ex-professional footballer who had played for Cheltenham Town Football Club many times; he was not a drug user or a drug dealer.  The incident had occurred when he had been going through a very bad divorce when he had lost everything and had been unable to see his son.  This phase was now over and he was ready to get back to work.

Members had the following recommendations to vote on:

1.    that the application be granted as Mr Licata is a fit and proper person to hold a hackney carriage driver’s licence; or

2.    that the application be refused on the grounds that Mr Licata is deemed not to be a fit and proper person to hold a hackney carriage driver’s licence.

Upon a vote it was (8 for and 1 against)

RESOLVED that Mr Licata’s application be refused on the grounds that he was deemed not to be a fit and proper person to hold a hackney carriage driver’s licence.

Councillor Walklett left the meeting at 4:44pm