Taxi driver loses appeal to Crown Court over loss of licence

Lincoln Crown Court has rejected an appeal by a self-employed taxi driver over the revocation of his hire driver licence.

North Kesteven District Council had issued Enus Karim, of Sleaford, with a hire driver licence in October 2023 following a formal driver assessment with the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership because he had at the time, three speeding convictions.

In June 2024 following two more speeding offences – which, North Kesteven said, occurred on consecutive days at the same location – the council's General Licensing Sub Committee determined Karim was “no longer a fit and proper person to continue to hold his hire driver licence due to his propensity to speed and therefore put passengers and other road users at increased risk”. As a result, his licence was revoked.

Karim appealed.

In December 2024 at Boston Magistrates Court, the decision of the Licensing Sub Committee was upheld and his appeal dismissed.

A further appeal to Lincoln Crown Court, heard on 2 May, 2025, was dismissed and the decision of the Licensing Sub Committee was again upheld.

Karim has been ordered to pay the council’s costs of £800 for the two appeals he launched.

Cllr Mark Smith, whose area of Executive Board special interest includes licensing and public protection, said: “The primary purpose of Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Licensing is public safety. It is rare for taxi appeals to progress to the Crown Court, so it is satisfying that the current policy, and the way it is implemented, have been endorsed by both the Magistrates and Crown Courts."