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Middlesbrough Council grants private hire driver licence despite past drink-driving and violence convictions
A Middlesbrough Licensing Committee granted a private hire driver licence to an applicant with convictions for drink-driving and two battery offences, concluding that he was fit and proper to hold a licence.
The application was considered on 7 September 2026. The applicant had six convictions, including drink-driving in 2015, two battery convictions arising from the same incident in 2016, and a speeding offence in May 2026.
Middlesbrough Council’s policy says an applicant with a drink-driving conviction must have at least seven years free from conviction after completing any sentence or driving ban. It normally requires at least 10 years without a conviction for an offence of violence, and says a licence will not be granted where an applicant has more than one violence conviction.
The committee heard that the applicant’s first three offences stemmed from the drink-driving case. He said he had been parked on a public road with the keys in his possession, waiting for his partner, and had no intention of driving. He had little recollection of failing to surrender to custody and accepted that he missed an appointment linked to a community order.
The two battery convictions related to an incident in June 2016 involving his partner and one of her friends. The applicant said he had been drinking heavily and that an argument escalated into a physical altercation. He maintained his innocence in relation to one of the convictions but accepted the court’s decision and said his behaviour was unacceptable.
At the hearing, the applicant described that period as difficult, telling the committee he had lost two close friends to suicide, his mother had become seriously ill and he had been unemployed. He said he was embarrassed by his past conduct, had changed, rarely drank and was focused on his family and fitness.
The committee said the violent offences were extremely serious but considered that they arose from the same incident and that the applicant had shown remorse and taken responsibility. It also found the offending appeared isolated to a difficult period in his life. The drink-driving conviction was more than 10 years old, and members said the relevant period under the council’s policy had elapsed.
Although the policy would normally weigh against granting a licence because of the two violence convictions, the committee decided there were good reasons to depart from it. It concluded the applicant did not pose a risk to the public and was fit and proper to hold a private hire driver licence.
