Retired Taxi Driver Faked His Licence To Work Illegally

A Wrexham man has been prosecuted after forging his Private Hire Driver badge in order to work after his licence had expired.

Peter John Williams of Holt Road, Wrexham was prosecuted at Wrexham Magistrates Court and ordered to pay fines, costs and victim surcharge totalling £925.

The Court heard that Mr Williams caused a road traffic collision in May 2014 on the Holt Road in Wrexham after driving into an oncoming car in the opposite lane. As a result, the two vehicles were written off and several passengers sustained injuries.

At the time of the collision, Mr Williams was acting as a Private Hire Driver and had collected two customers from Manchester Airport. The Police and Ambulance Service were called to the scene and the matter was reported to Wrexham Council’s Licensing Department.

Licensing Officers approached Mr Williams after the accident and it was identified that he hadn’t held a Private Hire Licence since his last one had expired over a year previously. When asked to present his identification badge, officers noted that the date of expiry had been tampered with in an attempt for it to appear as a current licence.

Mr Williams told officers that he had forgotten to get his licence renewed then decided to forge the badge because he could not afford a new licence.

Councillor David A Bithell, Lead Member for Environment and Public Protection said: “The result reflects ongoing work by the Licensing Department to ensure that anyone carrying out taxi and private hire work must be appropriately licensed. The sentence shows that the courts take the matter very seriously and as a council we will not tolerate those who flout the law.”