A BRISTOL Hackney carriage driver caught picking up passengers without a valid licence or insurance has been fined nearly £1,000.

Saleem Mohammed Aslam, of Horley Road, St Werburgh’s, was warned by Bristol City Council licensing staff that his Hackney Carriage licence plate was out of date.

The next evening he was captured on CCTV picking up passengers.

Plying for hire without a valid Hackney carriage licence also invalidated his insurance.

Aslam claimed he was merely picking up friends but in delivering their decision, magistrates stated the CCTV evidence revealed he was plying for hire. Aslam was not able to provide any proof that he knew the two women whom he had picked up in his vehicle.

Magistrates found him guilty of plying for hire and driving without a valid licence or insurance.

Aslam was fined £400 for each offence, disqualified from driving for 28 days, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15 and make a costs contribution of £900. He was ordered to pay the debt at a £40 per week.

Councillor Guy Poultney, Bristol City Council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “This was first-class work by the licensing department. Unlicensed drivers who ply for hire are not insured and pose a serious risk to public safety, and they pick the pockets of every real Hackney carriage driver. Visitors and the public at large need to be confident they are in a safe, licensed taxi.”

source: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Taxi-driver-fined-plying-trade-licence/story-13730974-detail/story.html