A private hire driver within Three Rivers has been sentenced to three counts of fraud and ordered to pay a fine including costs totalling £2,110.
Between 7 September 2014 and 1 May 2018, 45-year-old Mrs Manjit Kaur of Holywell Road, Watford failed to promptly notify Watford Borough Council of a change of circumstances which she knew would affect her entitlement to Housing Benefit.
Mrs Kaur had her private hire driving licence revoked after failing to notify Three Rivers District Council of the conviction.
Further to the sentence, Mrs Kaur then failed to disclose this conviction to the Licensing Team at the council who were only made aware when the eagle-eyed licensing officer noticed the sentence in the Watford Observer in early December 2019.
Mrs Kaur was subsequently interviewed under caution by licensing officers. She then admitted to the conviction and failing to disclose this information to the Licensing Authority as required by the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy 2019.
Cllr Stephen Giles Medhurst, Lead Member for Transport & Economic Development, said: “All licensed drivers are required to advise the licensing authority within 72 hours, or when is practicably possible, of any involvement with police.
“This includes investigations and arrests so Officers can undertake an assessment as to whether the driver remain fit and proper to be licensed. Three Rivers takes licensing of drivers and their vehicles seirously and we will not hestitate to revoke licences from those that don’t abide the rules.”
After full consideration of the facts, Mrs Kaur’s private hire driver licence was revoked by Three Rivers, and she was subsequently issued with a simple caution and her details added to the NAFN 9 National Anti-Fraud Network) database.
It was deemed that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute Mrs Kaur.
