A HUSBAND and wife who worked as Clydebank cabbies have lost their licences to operate a taxi in the town after being involved in a violent brawl in 2013.
William Sweeney lost his bid to renew his taxi licence last Wednesday at West Dunbartonshire Council’s licensing committee, three months after his wife Fiona Sweeney was told her application to hold a temporary licence was rejected.
Mr Sweeney’s hearing, similar to his wife’s on December 3, centred around an incident on July 7, 2013 when she attacked a female passenger in her husband’s taxi. The mother of six had previously pled guilty to assaulting the 26-year-old moments after receiving a call from her husband stating the girl would not leave the cab after an argument.
Sergeant Quinn of Police Scotland, which objected to Mr Sweeney holding a licence, told the hearing he had “actively encouraged the assault to happen”.
Sergeant Quinn reported one independent witness stated Mr Sweeney shouted: “Do her, do her, do her in”.
But the cabbie, who had all charges against him dropped, said: “I didn’t know what to do. I was waiting on the police to come, they took 20 minutes to come.
“I phoned my wife, I thought she could come down and try and calm her down until the police came. The girl had her foot up straight away and they had a wee scuffle.”
Mr Sweeney further told the hearing that he had hit the emergency button in the black cab before contacting his wife because the passenger had smashed the glass partition between the front and back of the cab, which saw shards of glass cut his head and neck.
But police statements suggested the partition was broken during the assault, evidence councillors accepted when they unanimously agreed to refuse Mr Sweeney’s application for a taxi licence.
Lawrence O’Neill, chairman of the licensing committee, said Mr Sweeney, of Cherry Crescent, Clydebank, should have dialled 999 or fled the taxi if he felt he was under threat.
He told him: “I agree wholeheartedly that you are not a fit and proper person to be holding a taxi licence.
“We have all given our views on what we would have done. My first course of action would not have been to call my wife.”
Mr Sweeney originally asked to renew his taxi licence in May 27, 2014.
Soon after his application was thrown out by the licensing committee at West Dunbartonshire Council, but an appeal on that decision, put before Dumbarton Sheriff Court, was upheld on February 5. It required councillors again consider William’s application and further treat it like a fresh case.
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