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Rogue taxi drivers have been caught flouting licensing laws in a council sting.

Dozens of cabbies have been caught out by officials since they launched a city wide crackdown at the beginning of summer.

Today Newcastle City Council has named its worst offenders and wants to assure residents, and particularly students, they have a firm eye on any illegal activity.

Jonathan Bryce, the council’s regulatory licencing manager, said: “These prosecutions show the council’s commitment to pursuing action against anyone who breaks the law.

“We take enforcement very seriously and our role is to ensure that the trade operates legally and to the high standards expected.”

In the past few months the council has found an increasing number of Hackney Carriage taxi drivers coming to work in Newcastle whose vehicles are registered to work in Northumberland and Durham.

This means customers are at risk of being picked up in uninsured cars as the vehicle’s haven’t been checked by Newcastle City Council.

Students and residents travelling very short distances, for example from Collingwood Street to Jesmond, have also found that taxi drivers have refused to take them because of the low fares, despite it being illegal to turn down a job.

Others have been ripped off, and have complained to the council that the taxi driver has turned off the metre and instead charged their own fee, like taxi driver Arafath Habib Riyad of Swaledale Gardens, Newcastle.

“We would also like to remind the travelling public that it is an offence for a Hackney Carriage driver to refuse a fare that starts and finishes in Newcastle,” said the spokesman.

“It is also an offence for such a driver not to use the fitted meter or to charge more than the legal tariff of fares displayed in the licensed vehicle.”

One taxi driver prosecuted by the council, Adil Mohammed, was caught when he picked up a team of council officers in a car not legally registered to be driven in Newcastle. Following a hearing at Newcastle Magistrates Court he was fined £55 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £100.

Stuart Burns, of Benwell Grange Terrace, had carried out a number of journeys without a valid taxi licence.

The council have said that those who have declined fares of just £3 or £4 to take people home after night out in town have gone on to face fines of up to £300.

So far 700 vehicles and drivers have been stopped and checked by the licensing authority at Newcastle City Council alongside Northumbria Police to make sure that driver standards are maintained in the last year.

The council have also written to both Newcastle University and Northumbria University to advise students how to stay safe while using taxis in the city and to report any problems to the council.

Named and shamed:

Syed Mehdi Manafi (12.11.52) Westbourne Avenue, Gateshead – Illegal Ply for Hire/No insurance (Gateshead Hackney Carriage Driver) – Prosecuted Fine £165. Costs £284, Victim Surcharge £20. Licence endorsed 6 penalty points.

Shamol Uddin (21.04.77) Lanercost Drive, Newcastle – Illegal Ply for Hire/No insurance (Northumberland hackney carriage working for Blueline) – Prosecuted Fine £150, Costs £250, Victim Surcharge £20, Licence endorsed 6 penalty points.

Brian Johnson (27.08.71) Legion Grove, Newcastle – Illegal Ply for Hire (Durham licensed Hackney Carriage working for Blueline) – Prosecuted Fine £230, Costs £339.50, Victim Surcharge £23.

Zahir Mohammed Azam (03.11.85) – Illegal Ply for Hire – Prosecuted Fine £110, Costs £25, Victim Surcharge £20.

Hamed Karimi Amirkiasar (20.09.79), Redgrave Close, Gateshead – Illegal Ply for Hire/No insurance (Northumberland licensed Hackney Carriage Driver working for Blueline) – Prosecuted Fine £112, Costs £738, Victim Surcharge £20.

Ian Lindsay Durno (22.03.59), Brandling Court, Akendside Terrace, Newcastle – Illegal Ply for Hire/No insurance – Prosecuted Fine £230, Costs £360.50, Victim surcharge £23, Licence endorsed 6 penalty points.

Harry Morris (21.05.51), Two Ball Lonnen, Newcastle – Illegal Ply for Hire/No insurance – Prosecuted Fine £440, Costs £50, Victim Surcharge £25, Licence endorsed 6 penalty points (Resulting in disqualification).

Arafath Habib Riyad (27.08.84), Swaledale Gardens, Newcastle – Failure to Engage Meter/Overcharge (Hackney Carriage) – Prosecuted Fine £340, Costs £150, Victim surcharge £20.

Mohammed Ramzan (30.04.72), Kingsley Avenue, Melton Park, Newcastle – Fare Refusal (Hackney Carriage) – Prosecuted Fine £250, Costs £588, Victim surcharge £20.

Mohammed Abul Hussain (12.06.65), Normount Road, Newcastle – Fare Refusal (Hackney Carriage) – Prosecuted Fine £165, Costs £500, Victim surcharge £40.

Hamzeh Karimi (11.09.83), Wardroper House, Greenford Road, Newcastle – Fare Refusal (Hackney Carriage) – Prosecuted Fine £400, Costs £200, Victim surcharge £40.

Mohammed Ajhad Ali (16.03.62), Swaledale Gardens, High Heaton, Newcastle– Fare Refusal (Hackney Carriage) – Prosecuted Fine £200, Costs £450, Victim surcharge £20.

Mohammed Sageer (25.11.83), Fenham Hall Drive, Newcastle – Fare Refusal (Hackney Carriage) – Prosecuted Fine £130, Costs £358.25, Victim surcharge £20

Fazal Ahmed Noori (27.09.76), Wingrove Road, Newcastle – Fare Refusal (Hackney Carriage) – Prosecuted Fine £300, Costs £250, Victim surcharge £30.

Stuart Michael Burns (27.06.62), Benwell Grange Terrace, Newcastle - Unlicensed Private Hire Driver – Prosecuted Fine £700, Costs £294, Victim surcharge £78.

Brian Costigan (22.01.57), Belmont Street, Newcastle – Unlicensed Private Hire Driver – Prosecuted Costs £270

Kalvinder Singh (19.03.66), Hersham Close, Kingston Park, Newcastle – Unlicensed Hackney Carriage Driver – Prosecuted Fine £110, Costs £100, Victim Surcharge £20