A hackney carriage had been booked, in the district where it was licensed, to pick up a fare in another district. The prosecutor said that when and where the fare was picked up the hackney carriage had no relevant private hire licence and no operator’s licence in force since it was not licensed in the area where the pick up occurred. The defendant argued that the licence for the hackney carriage which was in force, albeit in another district, was all that was required and therefore no offence was made out. The prosecutors referred to the definition of ‘licence’ in section 80, saying the taxi did not have a licence issued by the district where the fare was picked up.
Held: The Court relied on the definition of ‘private hire vehicle’ in section 80(1) which expressly excludes a hackney carriage and decided the case in favour of the defendant.
Webster J said: ‘I conclude without hesitation that being a hackney carriage licensed to ply for hire in that district, and not being in breach of that licence at that time and place, it was, for the purpose of section 46(1)(a), to be treated as a hackney carriage in respect of which a vehicle licence was in force, so that no offence under that section would have been made out.’
Judges:
Webster J
Citations:
[1981] RTR 395
Statutes:
Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 46(1)(e) 80
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Newcastle City Council, Regina (on the Application of) v Berwick-Upon-Tweed Borough Council and others Admn 5-Nov-2008
The applicant council complained that the respondent council was issuing a disproportionately high number of taxi licences, believing that it should only refuse a licence where the driver appeared to be unfit.
Held: The purpose of the . .
Applied – Kingston Upon Hull City Council v Wilson QBD 29-Jun-1995
The grant to an individual of a hackney licence in one local authority, does not stop the grant of a similar licence elsewhere. Though the court applied the ABC case, Buxton J rejected an argument that a vehicle was not a private hire vehicle for . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Licensing, Transport
Updated: 02 May 2022; Ref: scu.277887