Fife councillors have come under fire for turning down a taxi licence renewal for a cabbie with a clean licence while giving the go-ahead to a man recently jailed for embezzlement.
A sheriff has overturned the regulation and licensing committee’s decision to reject the application of Dunfermline taxi driver Gordon Brown and ordered the council to pay his costs.
Mr Brown said the uncertainty over his livelihood since the committee’s refusal last April had been a “nightmare” for him and that the way the matter was handled was “nasty”.
He had effectively been banned from continuing to work as a taxi driver, although he had a clean licence.
At the same committee meeting, 11 drivers who had live points on their licences for motoring offences had their applications approved.
One had also been jailed for embezzling thousands from his employer. He had been jailed for six months, had been released early but was still serving the unexpired portion of his sentence.
The licensing committee rejected Mr Brown’s application for renewal after an objection from the police, who highlighted three incidents where it was alleged he had been guilty of driving offences.
But none of these matters had proceeded to court and so Mr Brown, of Henryson Road, had a clean licence.
The incidents which formed the basis of the police objection were an allegation of speeding in April 2013, which ended in no court action. There was the same outcome over an allegation of speeding in July 2014. The third involved an allegation of going around a mini-roundabout the wrong way.
Mr Brown took his decision to an appeal hearing before Sheriff Kevin Veal at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court last month. The sheriff’s summary points out that the “vast majority” of applications that came before the committee that day were granted.
“Many of the applicants had live penalty points on their licences but the applications were granted,” he added.
One of the cases highlighted at the appeal by Mr Brown’s solicitor Jonathan Matheson-Dear was that of the local man who had been jailed just months before.
One successful applicant had two speeding offences and another for driving while using a mobile phone. Another was charged with careless driving after smashing into the back of a stationary vehicle, while a third had been banned after driving without insurance.
Mr Brown said: “It’s been a nightmare worrying if you were going to lose your livelihood.”
June Barrie, managing solicitor for the planning and licensing team, said: “A legal ruling has been made and it would not be appropriate for the council to comment any further on this particular case.”