Blackpool taxi licences refused over crime links

Minutes from a meeting of the council’s public protection sub-committee say the would-be cabbie had been convicted under the Proceeds of Crime Act following a police operation “to combat organised crime notably the supply of drugs and money laundering.”

The applicant, who cannot be named, told councillors via video link he had been helping out a friend, and he “had not been involved in the supply of drugs or organised crime.”

But councillors refused the licence due to their concerns about any connection with such serious offences.

Town hall policy bans people from holding a taxi licence within three years of convictions linked to drugs or fraud.

In a separate case, councillors also refused a taxi licence to an applicant who had a conviction for violence dating back to March 2019.

However a landau driver was granted a licence to operate in the town despite having a criminal past.

Minutes from the hearing, which had been held behind closed doors, said the applicant’s “extensive criminal history and the overall offending history” had raised concerns.

But, speaking to councillors via video link, he said “his passion for working with horses had provided a path for him to refocus his life”.

The committee decided the remorse shown and the time which had passed since the last offence, meant the licence could be granted alongside a letter warning it would be revoked should further offences occur.