Private Hire Driver suspended after illegally picking up passengers, but he says he was just being a Good Samaritan

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A Glasgow private hire driver has said he picked up three women who were not pre-booked because he was trying to help them. Alan Meecham, who is only legally allowed to pick up fares which have been booked through an operator, has had his licence suspended after licensing bosses were unimpressed with his failures to follow policy. Meecham claims he was simply being a Good Samaritan and would hope someone would do the same for his daughter if she ever needed a lift somewhere. While sitting outside Queen Street station, Meecham, who has been driving a PHV for 20 years, was approached by a woman who asked if he would take her and two friends home and how much it would cost. Meecham agreed a price to take the three women to Hamilton. He told the licensing committee that his priority was “to get the girls home safely and away from the city centre”. “If one of the girls was my daughter I would like to think someone else in my position would do the same” he said. “When I got them home safe and sound I knew I had done my job, even though I know I shouldn’t have done it.” Meecham’s reasoning for taking the job didn’t go down well with the licensing board who told him that after 20 years doing the job he should’ve known better and if he had followed to rules and advised them to pre-book through his operator he would’ve probably got the job anyway. As reported in the Evening Times, members of the licensing committee agreed to suspend Mr Meecham’s licence for two weeks.

December 17, 2018 at 09:44AM https://ift.tt/2ufVjKI Michael Murphy THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT