Appeal against decision not to grant taxi licence fails
A man has failed in his appeal against a decision by a senior garda not to grant him a taxi licence after a court heard he had not fully disclosed previous convictions when making the initial application.
The solicitor for Tom Tanner, of Granagoleen, near Clonakilty, Co Cork, told Clonakilty District Court that the offences were of a minor road traffic nature and should not mean he cannot secure a licence.
Mr Tanner, 53, told Judge James McNulty that he was seeking the small vehicle PSV licence as he had been offered a job with a taxi firm in Kinsale and needed to earn a living to pay his mortgage and help pay for his children to attend college.
However, Chief Supt Con Cadogan of the Cork West Division told the court that he had turned down Mr Tanner’s application because he did not believe he was a suitable person to hold such a licence. He cited previous convictions and the fact that not all of those convictions had been disclosed by Mr Tanner in his initial application.
Chief Supt Cadogan said Mr Tanner had made his application last November. Under the Taxi Regulation Act the Chief Supt is the issuing authority for the area and he said he had turned down the application based on Mr Tanner’s previous convictions, referring to a 2013 conviction for crossing a continuous white line, a 2011 conviction for speeding, a 2004 conviction for driving without reasonable consideration, and a 2001 conviction for drink-driving. The court heard that only the drink-driving conviction was disclosed on Mr Tanner’s application.
“It is my firm belief that Mr Tanner does not meet the criteria,” said Chief Supt Cadogan.
Mr Tanner told the judge he did not realise that he had been convicted of two of the offences cited by Chief Supt Cadogan and that, in 35 years of driving, he had never had an accident. He said he was currently working transporting blood samples and his solicitor, Ray Hennessy, said his client’s previous convictions were of a minor nature.
Judge McNulty said Mr Tanner had one serious conviction dating from 2001 and others that, while not in the serious category, were not in the minor category either. He refused the appeal.
