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A convicted killer has had his minicab licence revoked by Transport for London after the Standard exposed the case.
The 38-year-old, who strangled his wife, has also been banned from studying The Knowledge in his bid to qualify as a black cab driver.
TfL today announced a tightening of its rules, banning criminals convicted of serious or violent offences for life from becoming licensed minicab or cab drivers.
They will only be licensed under “exceptional” circumstances and with the backing of an independent panel.
TfL acted after the Standard revealed the man, a paranoid schizophrenic, was training to become a black cab driver and had begun work as a minicab driver after being given a private hire licence.
He had been sentenced to indefinite detention under the Mental Heath Act in January 2001 after pleading guilty, on the grounds of diminished responsibility, at the Old Bailey to killing his
wife a year earlier.
Under the old rules, TfL allowed convicts to apply to become drivers once their convictions became “spent”.
Detention under the Mental Heath Act becomes spent after five years. Jeroen Weimar, TfL's chief operating officer for surface transport, said: “Taxi and private hire drivers are in a
position of trust. It's our job to ensure they deserve that trust.
"We believe insufficient weight was given to the
applicant's criminal history and have tightened our guidelines to prevent such cases in the future.”
More than 5,000 taxi drivers had mounted a blockade of the Public Carriage Office in Islington in protest.
Reader views (19)
We need a public inquiry into the failings of the Public Carriage Office and senior managers of transport for London.
- John Kennedy, Vice Chair Rmt London Taxi Branch, London, UK, 25/09/2009 03:47
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Steve from england. the PCO already do crb checks on all taxi drivers and this is renewed, at the cabbies expence, every 3 years. what about your job ,do you have a regular crb check?
- Del Boy, london, 24/09/2009 19:41
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If mini-cab drivers are to be regulated, then why not let them pick up from street corners just like black cabs, only way cheaper.
Let the public decide whether they wish to pay a 300 percent premium for the dubious benefit of having a guy who claims to know every street (and does not) compete with a Sat Nav that does. Anyway, we all know the way home from the pub
As David Spart has taken to saying let the market decide - that would be the end of the black cab bandit
- Dave Spart, London, 24/09/2009 17:20
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So this fella who was actually totally upfront about what he did, when applying, has been forced out of a job yet there are no checks (to my knowledge) as to mental state of any other drivers?
Just because you get into a licensed cab doesn't mean you are safe; just ask the victims of John Worboys!
- Mark, South-East London, 24/09/2009 15:41
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Frightening that TFL only reviewed their position after the cab drivers demonstrated. So protecting the public isn't one of their primary considerations then?
Thanks cabbies!
- Kate Tudor, Reading, England, 24/09/2009 14:26
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In todays Communist society its possible to get almost any documentation you require,as long as you grease a few palms along the way,Banana republic? yep.
- General Lee'Wright, Communist Britain, 24/09/2009 13:00
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Great news now can tfl/pco do a crb check on ALL licensed taxi/minicab drivers i think the result will be scary!!!!! watch this space??
- Steve, England, 24/09/2009 12:58
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I'd be really interested to know exactly how a background check is carried out on an Iraqi, Afghan, Nigerian, Indian, Latvian etc, who drives a cab.
Do people really believe alll these foregn countries keep proper records, to be able to confirm suitability?
- P Staker, Londonistan., 24/09/2009 12:30
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and no doubt the U turn was managed in one go due to the famous turning circle of black cabs.
- Squiz, Islington, 24/09/2009 12:21
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Great job - London Cabby fratenity and the Evening Standard. In these two outfits, standards have prevailed. I'll now be suggesting to all my female friends and relatives to make sure they never - never - never use any unknown or unvetted mini cab firms.
- Anna J, London, 24/09/2009 12:08
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Have the public of London been placed at risk because of Political Correctness?
Was this man financially compensated?
Will the whistle blowers be lauded or victimised?
- Paul B, London UK, 24/09/2009 11:43
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It says a lot about the minicab company that employed him too that they were perfectly happy to put customers in his car. Which says a lot about the 'ethics' of minicab companies as a whole in my opinion. Nice to see the London Cabbies doing something to uphold moral values even though the Private Hire fraternity clearly couldn't care less.
- Alan G, London, 24/09/2009 10:59
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Unbelievable, Mr Weimar stated on Live TV that he was happy for this guy to drive his young daughter around, now he states " insufficient weight was given "
Well Mr Weimar you have just had your John Gummer hamburger moment, shame on you, any chance of you doing the honourable thing and resigning,
Please remember this matter only came to light after it was leaked, and TFL are hunting the mole.
It now needs to be asked how many more unsuitable people are driving Mincabs or Black Cabs. are TFL now going to double check all of their previous decisions.
- Steve M, London, 24/09/2009 10:45
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Jeroen Weimar said last week that this man was perfectly suitable to drive a Taxi and that he would be happy to let this man drive his 7 year old daughter around. What's changed?
- Ted, London, 24/09/2009 10:45
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Well done Evening Standard. Old school Journalistic investigation for the public benefit.
The guy in this case clearly likes driving. That doesn't mean he's suitable to work with the public on a one to one basis. This shouts loudly of his medico's and assessors becoming wildly enthusiastic when he states his wish list career. They should get a good knuckle-rapping for so blindly only looking at his side rather than taking the wider over-all view. There are plenty of occupations he can take up which doesn't leave any one group of people exposed or vulnerable.
- Jeff, London, 24/09/2009 10:37
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If he had been sentenced to indefinite detention as stated in the article, how could he have (a) managed to pass the qualifying tests, and (b) been free to carry out the job? What does 'indefinite' mean in TFL-speak?
- Minority Working Person, London/England, 24/09/2009 10:13
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1. Will the officer at TfL/PCO responsible for making this rexcless decision be sanctioned?
2. Should Jeroen Weimar stand down after this fiasco?
- Paul B, London UK, 24/09/2009 10:11
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Seems the man is suited for driving a mini cab..
- Bob, london, 24/09/2009 10:09
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Its unbelievable that Tfl let this person be trained first and only felt the need to suspend him after the protests. Makes you wonder how many others out there have a license they don't deserve..
- Josh, London, 24/09/2009 10:00
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