BOLTON

TWO taxi drivers have had bids to have their licence renewal refused due to concerns over the public's safety.

Bolton Council's Licensing Sub-Committee heard the cases of two men who were applying to renew their private hire licence.

The first applicant had his bid refused after councillors heard how he had been arrested on three separate occasions for common assault and also for a separate allegation of assault.

An allegation of assault was made on November 2, 2007 after an argument resulted in him headbutting a man to the head and face before the victim retracted his statement.

In July 2009 the man was arrested after he grabbed his wife around the neck and pushed her violently before she later contacted police saying she did not wish to pursue prosecution against him/

In May 2011 he was arrested for common assault in relation to a domestic incident and then in September 2017 was arrested again after he pushed his mother-in-law to the ground and during the same incident allegedly slapped his wife to the back of the head and hands.

His wife again retracted her statement but told the sub-committee the incident did happen, but she did not wish to prosecute her husband after reconciling with him.

The applicant admitted to the sub-committee he had hit his wife on three separate occasions and councillors refused the licence.

The second driver was refused an application after he received a caution for battery in 2015 after he reportedly punched and kicked his wife, something he denied to the committee.

A letter from the wife said she had exaggerated the allegation but the sub-committee rejected the licence application.

Another man had applied for street trading consent and was rejected after the sub-committee heard how he had a conviction for assault by beating from May last year.

He said the injury occurred by accident when he got off a couch but the sub-committee did not accept this.

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 SANDWELL

 A taxi driver has had his licence suspended after he was caught using a Costa Coffee cup lid as a fuel cap.

The driver's vehicle was stopped in January as part of safety checks - but inspectors found diesel was seeping through the makeshift cap.

Several other problems were discovered by DVLA inspectors, including the tyres being close to the legal limit, the airbag light being on and a headlight not working.

The taxi was immediately taken off the road.

The driver, who cannot be named, has had his Hackney Carriage licence suspended for 24 weeks.

The driver can appeal the suspension at Magistrates' Court.

The DVSA inspector who carried out the checks said: "The clear conscious decision to fit a Costa coffee cup lid to the fuel filler neck was inexcusable."

He said he was "shocked at the level of non-compliance and the blatant disregard to road safety."

Sandwell Council's cabinet member for public health and protection Councillor Elaine Costigan said: "This was a really serious and potentially very dangerous thing to do.

"Generally we see very good standards of vehicle maintenance when we make these checks - it's rare to see something quite this irresponsible."

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BOURNEMOUTH

 A brute who posed as a taxi driver and raped two young men has been jailed for six years.

The attacks happened four years apart but were identical.

Anderson Cerqueira, 44, offered a lift to a 20-year-old who believed he was getting in a cab after drinking in a nightclub.

The hulking six-foot driver stopped his car in a quiet part of Bournemouth and pinned down his slightly built victim.

The shocked lad was allowed to leave the car 10 minutes later.

The sobbing victim texted his mum to say: “Please help. I just got raped by a taxi driver.”

Bournemouth Crown Court heard that in 2013 Cerqueira, a supermarket shelf stacker, used the same ploy to rape another drunk young man.

The 21-year-old victim refused to go ahead with a prosecution.

But police re-interviewed him after the ­latest attack and he agreed to give evidence.

Cerqueira, who has dual Portuguese and Brazilian nationality, has lived in the UK for 10 years.

He was found guilty of rape and two counts of ­sexual assault.

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