UNLICENSED TAXI DRIVER CAUGHT OUT BY COUNCILLOR

A Llanelli man caught driving a taxi without a license has been fined £350 and ordered to pay £500 prosecution costs.

Adrian Ricky Parry, of Dan yr Allt, Felinfoel, Llanelli, appeared at Carmarthen Magistrates Court on October 30, where he pleaded guilty to two separate offences contrary to Sections 47 and 60 of the Town and Police Clauses Act 1847.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £25.

Magistrates heard that Parry had previously been licensed by Carmarthenshire County Council as a Hackney Carriage licensed driver, but that his license was revoked by the council’s Licensing Committee in June 2013, a decision supported by magistrates on appeal.

Parry made two subsequent attempts to reapply for a licence – once in October 2014, and again in February 2015, but both were refused.

However, on March 4, 2015, a councillor that sits on the licensing committee witnessed Parry driving Hackney Carriage 983 – a white Nissan Pri-Master that is licensed to David Harold Mathias, of Llanelli’s DM Cabs, where Parry is employed as a controller.

The councillor took photos on his phone as evidence, and followed him to the Lifestyle Extra supermarket in Penybanc, where he parked up and entered the store.

CCTV footage obtained from the supermarket confirmed that Parry was the person driving the taxi.

The prosecution was brought by Carmarthenshire County Council.

Cllr Jim Jones, Executive Board Member for Public Protection, said: “It is very important that members of the public have confidence in our licensing system, which is there to protect people and ensure that drivers and vehicles are properly checked. We will not tolerate people who flout that system.”