TC Nick Denton has revoked the licence of MCB Mini Travel after repeated maintenance and licensing offences
Repeated offences relating to taxi and private hire licensing have led to the revocation of the two-vehicle restricted licence held by Matthew Benjamin.
Trading as MCB Mini Travel, Mr Benjamin has been disqualified from holding or applying for a PSV O-Licence for 18 months by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Jones.
Mr Benjamin, of Pontlliw, Swansea, failed to attend a Cardiff Public Inquiry (PI). Convictions, a DVSA investigation and the revocation of his local authority private hire and taxi licence led to the convening of the PI. His request to surrender the licence was rejected by the TC.
The TC said that on 27 April 2016 at Llandrindod Wells Magistrates Mr Benjamin pleaded guilty to employing an unlicensed driver, together with two offences of operating a vehicle without a licence.
He was fined £1,050 and ordered to pay £240 costs and a victim surcharge of £35.
On 30 September 2016 at Brecon Magistrates, Mr Benjamin was found guilty of four offences of allowing unlicensed drivers to drive, plus an offence of failing to supply information or produce paperwork on request. He was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £2,125 costs and a victim surcharge of £60.
Checks were carried out by DVSA on school transport provided by Mr Benjamin. On 29 April 2016 and on 4 May 2016 prohibitions were issued for taxis he was operating. One of the prohibitions was ‘S’ marked for a defective braking system. Those prohibitions indicated he had problems in maintaining vehicles. A Vehicle Examiner contacted one of the maintenance contractors who confirmed that it had not seen Matthew Benjamin’s PSV for some considerable time and said they had had problems getting payment for any work carried out.
An attempt was made to contact the other maintenance contractor, but the telephone number was dead. No evidence of financial standing had been produced. Repeated offences relating to taxi and private hire licensing were relevant to repute. The offences were serious and pointed to a person who had little regard to a regulated environment.
It was also clear that the vehicles licensed by local authorities were not safe, hence the prohibitions. A failure to pay a maintenance contractor was an indication that Mr Benjamin had had difficulties in running and maintaining safe passenger carrying vehicles. It was no surprise that Mr Benjamin had had his private hire and taxi licences revoked by the local authority.
