A former taxi driver has been ordered to pay nearly £2,000 for driving without a licence.

Besnick Laci, 55, from Hagley Road in Reading, pleaded guilty on June 16 to driving around south Oxfordshire without a licence and for failing to hand in his taxi badge.

Mr Laci’s licence was suspended with immediate effect on November 30 last year as he failed so sign up to the DBS Update Service, which was a breach of licence condition.

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A letter was sent to Mr Laci which clearly told him that he was not to drive any vehicle licenced by the council as a hackney carriage until his driver’s licence was re-instated after a new enhanced criminal record check was received.

However, the magistrates were told information was gathered that showed Mr Laci continued to work for Grosvenor Chauffeur Cars Limited.

Between December 5 and December 15 last year, Mr Laci continued to have 160 jobs allocated to him but eventually his vehicle was captured by number plate recognition cameras, and this clearly showed a taxi plate on 18 and 21 December and January 1 this year.

The court heard that despite the contents of the suspension letter, Mr Laci attended the council offices in his taxi, with his suspension letter in hand and refused to hand over his badge.

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The court was told the requirement to sign up to the DBS Update Service was well publicised and it was a licensing condition that was printed on the back of his paper licence given to him in April 2022.

In mitigation, Mr Laci told the court it was a misunderstanding and he said he had been licenced with the council for 16 years, but the processes had changed.

Mr Laci said he was not against the rules but he didn’t understand everything that was in the letter and he didn’t realise he would end up in court.

He told the court he was no longer working as a taxi driver and had not been for three months.

The magistrates imposed a fine of £440 for being an unlicensed driver, £292 for failure to return his badge or taxi plate and a victim surcharge of £293 was also imposed.

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In addition to this, Mr Laci was told to pay a contribution towards prosecution costs of £782 which means he must pay £1807 in total.

Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, David Rouane, said: “We want people to be confident that drivers and vehicles are properly licensed and deemed fit and proper to ensure that their journeys are safe and insured.

“Prosecutions such as this one are important to keep that confidence and should act as a reminder to other drivers to make sure they are complying with the law and their licence conditions”

The court heard that Mr Laci was an experienced driver and would have been aware of the requirement for himself to be licensed to be able to drive a licensed hackney carriage.