Glasgow private hire driver banned for six weeks after illegal pick-up

A Glasgow private hire driver who claimed he was just giving his friends a lift after a night out has been suspended for six weeks by the city's licensing committee.

Orwa Sulaiman Ibrahim was caught on camera picking up a couple from Jamaica Street near McDonald's without a booking, which is against the law for private hire drivers.

The incident was reported by a hackney taxi driver who had been approached by the same passengers asking for a quote to Paisley. The hackney driver told them that the private hire driver in front of him was not allowed to pick them up without a booking, but they ignored him and got into Mr Ibrahim's car.

Mr Ibrahim denied that he was working that night and said he had been out with his friends and was taking them home. He said he did not remember the incident but he usually did not work nights on weekends because of "a few bad experiences in the past with drunk customers".

However, the licensing committee did not believe his story and said it "doesn't seem to add up". Cllr Alex Wilson, who chairs the committee, said Mr Ibrahim's statement was inconsistent and incomplete. He said Mr Ibrahim should have mentioned that he had been clubbing, then to McDonald's and picked up his friend if that was true.

The committee decided to suspend Mr Ibrahim's licence for six weeks as a deterrent to other private hire drivers who might be tempted to ply for trade illegally.