A Glasgow private hire driver has been found guilty of careless driving after running over a woman who had collapsed on the road.

John Paul Borland, 42, was convicted at Glasgow Sheriff Court having initially stood trial for dangerous driving.

He struck Patricia McBride, then 52, in Toryglen on the night of March 6, 2022.

The court heard that Ms. McBride had been feeling unwell and collapsed while crossing Prospecthill Road resulting in her laying across the road.

She was taken to hospital where her condition was treated as "life threatening." She was placed in a medically induced coma within the intensive care unit for six days. 

She sustained 30 separate rib fractures, a pelvic fracture, a collapsed lung, blood in lungs and a spinous process fracture. She was discharged from hospital on March 31 2022.

Miss McBride also suffered a fractured collarbone, right clavicle, left wrist and right arm as well as wounds to her liver, kidney and spleen.

The now former private hire driver, Borland, told the court that he was starting his shift in the south side of the city on the night of the incident. He stated that when he was driving, he saw a man waving at him in the distance from the side of the road.

Borland said: "As I got closer, I saw him waving and as I approached, I saw him and that's when I hit the woman on the road.

"Immediately after the impact, I put the handbrake on and the first thing I did was run out of the car and a witness said that there was nothing I could have done then I asked for an ambulance to be called."

The prosecutor asked Borland in cross examination if he was blaming the waving man for the incident and he replied: "I'm not blaming anyone."

It was revealed that Borland, of the city's Cathcart, has two previous road traffic convictions.

Sheriff Paul Reid deferred sentence to allow for background reports and continued Borland's bail.

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Cabbies in Cumberland have hit out at plans to introduce a penalty point system, arguing it is unnecessary and could deter honest reporting.

The proposed scheme is based on a similar system introduced by the now-defunct Carlisle City Council, which was merged with Allerdale and Copeland councils to form Cumberland Council in 2023. It would see drivers penalised for a range of offences, including not complying with their licences, smoking in their vehicles, playing loud music and failing to display the correct signage.

A consultation on the scheme attracted a largely negative response, with many arguing it would create unnecessary bureaucracy and could be used maliciously by competitors.

A report prepared ahead of the regulatory committee meeting today said "the majority" of those responding called for the scheme to be scrapped.

One response to the consultation said the penalty point system did not give "any space for human error".

"Small issues that can easily be ironed out in a matter of seconds or minutes should not impose the threat of penalty points or revocation of operators' licences," it said.

They added the "threat" of points may deter drivers from being open with licensing staff, while they preferred to work "hand in hand".

Another response raised concerns about the potential for "vindictive" complaints about competitors, "with the intention of putting other operators or certain drivers off the road".

One response was in favour of the scheme, but said it would only work "as long as there is someone to enforce it".

Cumberland Council is now considering amendments to the penalty points scheme, but remains committed to its implementation.

Some amendments to the original draft have already been proposed, including the requirement for drivers to adhere to a dress code and restrictions on licensing cars older than ten years.

The committee will be asked to approve the amendments with a view to considering a new version of the penalty point system in January.

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Taxi drivers in Grimsby have won a temporary reprieve from a council plan to lift a cap on the number of hackney carriages.

Councillors on the licensing and community protection committee voted to defer the decision until a survey of demand is carried out.

The move follows concerns raised by the North East Lincolnshire Hackney Carriage Association that the trade is already struggling due to rising costs and falling demand.

Wayne Crouch, chair of the association, described the current situation as "the worst he's ever known".

"I was sat on Freeman Street today for four hours exactly, I took three jobs, I got £13," said Mr Crouch. 

He highlighted the difficulties faced by hackney carriage drivers, who are often unable to fill their shifts.

The council had proposed three changes to the local hackney carriage rules:

• Removing the current cap of 220 hackney carriages
• Requiring all new cabs to be electric or hybrid
• Making all new cabs wheelchair accessible

However, councillors were persuaded to pause the first proposal, citing concerns about the potential impact on existing drivers and the need for a clearer understanding of demand.

The council will now conduct a survey to assess whether there is a genuine need for more taxis in the area. The results of this survey will inform any future decisions on the cap.

Officers also recommended to amend a wheelchair accessible exemption made by councillors in 2013 against advice. Drivers can get medical exemptions off their GP from carrying passengers in wheelchairs.

The 2013 amendment allowed such drivers to change their carriage back from being wheelchair accessible to a saloon. "We feel the link to the vehicles does cause a problem for us," stated Adrian Moody, the council's licensing and environment protection manager. Drivers with the medical exemption had risen from 13 to 75, since 2013, most with lifetime exemptions.

Wheelchair accessible cabs in North East Lincolnshire had plummeted from 70 in 2020 to 43

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The Disclosure and Barring Service is changing its fees, in order to meet the increased operational costs of delivering the DBS safeguarding service.

NEW FEES WILL BE AS FOLLOWS:

Update Service – £16 per year

Basic DBS check – £21.50

Standard DBS check – £21.50

Enhanced DBS check – £49.50

Enhanced DBS check with Barred List(s) – £49.50

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) states it is funded by the fees paid from DBS check customers, and therefore fee changes can be required to meet the increased operational costs of delivering DBS’ safeguarding service.

Each DBS check has its own price that is designed to cover all costs of that specific check, and each check’s fee is scrutinised separately.

DBS confirm that its fees are reviewed on an annual basis, and based on operational and legislative requirements, fees may change and are necessary to maintain the highest quality, to allow DBS to effectively safeguard society.

The new fees have been analysed and approved by the DBS board, Home Office, HM Treasury, and Minister for Safeguarding, and fall well below the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rates.

Dave Lawrie, Director of NPHTA said: “At a time when many of our drivers are already struggling with reduced income, increased overheads, rising costs of vehicles, insurance and licence fees, we now find that even the DBS is putting its fees up, despite it having a mandated minimum income from ALL licensees each year.

“Is it possible that at the same time, they can stop asking for two separate DBS checks for the same drivers to perform the exact same trips - one for licensing and one for school runs ... in effect making double money.... or would that be too much to ask?"

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Two Burntwood men have been prosecuted by Lichfield District Council after licensing officers caught them running a scam private hire operation.

In January 2024 licensing officers stopped a vehicle in Burntwood and, after finding a vulnerable passenger in the back of the car, discovered that both the passenger and the carer who had booked the journey had been duped into believing it was a genuine PHV.

The vehicle was uninsured, and neither the car nor the driver held private hire/vehicle licences. The subsequent investigation discovered that BP Cars, an operator licensed by the council, had knowingly passed jobs to the driver.

In order to protect the public, licensing officers immediately suspended the private hire operator licence held by BP Cars.

The operator was then called before the council’s licensing committee where councillors revoked the licence.

Cabinet Member Councillor Alex Farrell said: “Motivated by greed, two men put an unknown number of local people at risk through their disgraceful conduct.

"This scam saw passengers, including the vulnerable, being taken on journeys in an unlicensed and uninsured vehicle that had not met the safety standards required of a PHV, and by a driver who was unlicensed and had therefore not had criminal record or medical fitness checks.”

On 5 November 2024 both the driver and the operator appeared at Cannock Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to a range of licensing, fraud and driving offences.

The driver, Craig Matthews, 54, from Burntwood was given 6 points on his driving licence and a 12 month conditional discharge. He was also ordered to pay costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £26.

The operator, Brian Peasley, 77, also from Burntwood and trading as BP Cars, was also given a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £26.

Councillor Farrell added: “Both men now have a criminal record and will not be able to obtain a taxi licence in the UK.

"Taxi drivers and operators hold considerable responsibility and we expect the very highest of standards from them.”

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