Court upholds council's decision to revoke licence of serial speeding private hire driver

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A court has upheld a decision to revoke an Aldershot man's private hire driver's licence after he notched up two more speeding fines having previously served a driving ban for the same offence.

Narciso Carnay (50) appealed against a decision by Rushmoor Borough Council to revoke his licence in April 2020 at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 20 July. However, the magistrates upheld the decision and ordered him to pay the council's costs of £2790.82.

Mr Carnay had been licensed to drive a private hire vehicle for nearly ten years, although he had been previously disqualified for driving for six months in 2017 after totting up 12 points for speeding.

As a result of this, his licence was suspended and he was required to complete a speed awareness course, an advanced driving course and a taxi-specific NVQ, before it was reinstated in April 2018.

Since the reinstatement of his licence, Carnay had received a further six points for speeding, three of which were received within less than a month of the reinstatement and only came to light when he notified the council of his second endorsement.

Rushmoor Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Operational Services, Councillor Maurice Sheehan, said: "We have a duty to ensure that the private hire drivers we license drive carefully and the public feel safe when they are being transported.

"This driver had already been banned previously for speeding offences, and so we had no option but to revoke his licence when he broke the law again. We had to oppose this appeal and were therefore glad when magistrates backed our decision."