Posted on the 4th August 2025 in PHTM News

STOCKTON MAN REFUSED PRIVATE HIRE LICENCE FOR CAUSING DEATH BY DANGEROUS DRIVING

A Stockton businessman who served a four-year prison sentence for causing the death of another motorist by dangerous driving has been denied a private hire licence.

The man, who killed another driver in a head-on collision in 2013, had applied for the licence from Stockton Borough Council.

The applicant, whose name was not released, was found guilty by a jury in 2015 after a trial.

According to council minutes, he "now accepted that the collision was his fault," although he still seemed to dispute an account that he was trying to overtake at the time of the fatal crash.

He told councillors that the crash "was not an intentional collision" and that if the victim had not died, he would not have gone to prison.

He said he had "learned to accept responsibility" after completing courses in prison. The applicant regained his driving licence in April 2019 after taking an extended driving test.

During the hearing, the man told the committee he wanted to become a private hire driver to provide for his wife and two children, citing difficulties in his previous retail sales career.

He described himself as a "confident driver" who was "fit" and "healthy."

However, the council's general licensing committee unanimously refused the application, stating that they did not believe he was a "fit and proper person" to hold a private hire vehicle driver's licence.

The committee found no "exceptional circumstances" to deviate from their policy of refusing a licence to someone with such a conviction.

In two other separate cases, the committee granted private hire driver licences. One was for a driver with a conviction for driving with drugs levels over the legal limit, who they said "came across well" and "had sought help for his issues."

The other was for a driver who had operated a vehicle without insurance, but the committee accepted this was a "genuine mistake."


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