Council prosecutes pair after finding licensed taxi business used unlicensed taxi driver

Two men have been prosecuted by Lichfield District Council after licensing officers caught a licensed taxi company handing business to a driver without a taxi licence.

The council became aware of the pair after licensing officers stopped a vehicle in Burntwood, Staffordshire, in January 2024.

The officers discovered a vulnerable passenger in the car and found that both the passenger and the carer who had booked the journey had been duped into believing it was a genuine taxi, the council said.

The vehicle was uninsured, and neither the car nor the driver held a taxi licence. 

A subsequent investigation discovered that BP Cars, a taxi operator licensed by the council, had knowingly passed jobs to the driver.

Licensing officers immediately suspended the taxi operator licence held by BP Cars. 

The operator was then called before the council's licensing committee, which then revoked their licence.

On 5 November 2024, both the driver and the operator appeared at Cannock Magistrates' Court and pleaded guilty to a range of taxi licensing, fraud and driving offences.

The driver, Craig Matthews, 54, of Coppice Lane in Burntwood, was given 6 points on his driving licence and a 12-month conditional discharge. He was also ordered to pay costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £26.

The operator, Brian Peasley, 77, of New Plant Lane in Burntwood and trading as BP Cars, was also given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £26.

Cabinet Member Cllr Alex Farrell said: "This scam saw passengers, including the vulnerable, being taken on journeys in an unlicensed and uninsured vehicle that had not met the safety standards required of a taxi, and by a driver who was unlicensed and had therefore not had criminal record or medical fitness checks."

Adam Carey