Henley Regatta: Taxi drivers fined for operating illegally

The men were taken to Oxford Magistrates' Court on February 23 on the back of their actions at the rowing event last year.

Mehmood Awan, 53, of Shepherds Close, Hurley, Maidenhead, pleaded guilty to unlawfully plying for hire during the annual regatta.

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The court heard Awan had told enforcement officers he was in Henley to pick up a pre-booked fare but that the customer did not show up.

However, Awan was not licensed by the South Oxfordshire District Council.

The court heard he was only accepting cash for that booking so that it didn’t go through his private hire operator.

The Henley Regatta

The court took into account Awan’s early guilty plea and imposed a fine of £310, a victim surcharge of £120 and costs of £1,100.

While Yassar Mahmood, 39, of Abercrombie Road, Maidenhead, also pleaded guilty to the same charge after first originally disputing the claim

Mahmood had originally maintained that he had told his passenger to book on the app before the journey could take place.

However, when in court he pleaded guilty to the charge against him.

He was ordered to pay a fine of £184, a victim surcharge of £74 and costs of £1,100 with the court taking is early plea into consideration.

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Mohammed Siddeeque, 46, of Torcross Grove, Calcot, Reading also pleaded guilty to illegally plying for hire

In mitigation, Siddeeque told magistrates that he had a clean driving licence and held licences with Transport for London (TfL), and both Reading and Fareham councils.

He said he had never had problems previously. 

As a result of his actions, Siddeeque was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and £1,126 in costs.

In another separate case, Haroon Qayyum, 39, of Benjamin Road, High Wycombe was ordered to pay a fine of £660, victim surcharge of £264 and costs of £1,100.

The court found Qayyum guilty in his absence after hearing how when a licensing officer approached him before he told a passenger to tell the officer that he had pre-booked the journey.

However, unbeknown to the driver the passenger was in fact also a licensing officer.

Councillor David Rouane, leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “We take the safety of our residents very seriously and our officers work hard to make sure unlicensed taxis are stopped from operating in our district.

“For your safety, I cannot stress the importance of pre-booking private hire vehicles. Pre-booking means there is a record of the journey, the driver, and the vehicle used, so in the event of any problems, the driver and vehicle can be traced.”