Crawley taxi driver loses licences after locking woman in car

A Crawley Borough Council spokesman said Amin Mirza, of Langley Green, lost his appeal against the council’s decision to revoke his hackney carriage and private hire driver licences, and its refusal to renew his private hire driver’s licence..

He appeared at Horsham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (February 18) after the council received two complaints in 2014.

A council spokesman said: “The first when driving a hackney carriage, Mr Mirza refused a fare at the front of the rank without reasonable excuse; and as a private hire driver, he locked a female passenger in the car for several minutes at the end of a journey during a dispute over the fare.

“After investigating the complaints and concluding that they were substantiated, the council revoked both his driver’s licences.

“The court heard evidence from the woman who alleged she was locked in the vehicle, her husband and from Mr Mirza. At the end of the hearing the court dismissed his appeals and ordered Mr Mirza to pay the council’s costs of £5,799.”

Councillor Brian Quinn, Chair of the council’s Licensing Committee, said: “We take incidents like this very seriously and will only grant or renew licences to applicants the council deems to be a fit and proper person to hold a driver’s licence.”

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