Former council worker who served jail time for the possession of multiple drugs issued private hire

A former Glasgow City Council worker has been issued a private hire licence despite having previous convictions and serving a 14 month prison sentence. William Griffiths has been granted a licence to operate across Glasgow although he was caught with 59g of cocaine, two grams of amphetamine and £12,870 in cash when police searched his home back in May 2014. According the the Glasgow Live, officers also discovered, during a separate raid, 194g of cannabis, two grams of cocaine and £7,115. Under the `misuse of drugs act` police also seized £7,380 from Mr Griffiths. Despite all of this, Glasgow City Council deemed Griffiths as a fit and proper person to hold a private hire licence. During his licensing hearing, Griffiths denied his involvement in any “recreational drugs”, stating that he was living with two other men at the time of his convictions. Griffiths said that he lost everything and has had to start from scratch. He said he hopes to operate in Glasgow City centre once he starts work. Committee member Robert Connelly raised his concerns surrounding Mr Griffiths’ previous jail term but the committee still agreed to grant a private hire licence to him, albeit for a restricted one-year period.