Council revokes Mansfield taxi firm licence after unlawful killing verdict

Dennis Lamb, owner of Aaeron Taxis has had his operators license removed by Mansfield district Council following the inquest verdict in October into the death of father of three Mark Buckley.

Mr Buckley, 34 was killed when a sleepy taxi driver ploughed into him.

He had been on his way to work in Huthwaite when the cab veered across to the wrong side of the road and collided with his Yamaha 125cc on the A611 Derby Road, close to Notts Golf Club on March 30 2014.

Cab driver, Kevin Wiesztort thad only had nine hours’ sleep in three days, despite working long shifts.

Wiesztort was jailed last year for 45 months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

The inquest heard two passengers who had been in Wiesztort’s cab hours before the fatal smash had complained to his company, Aaeron Cars in Mansfield, about his driving.

They described Wiesztort’s driving as “erratic”, saying “he was not fit to drive” and that he was a “danger” after he dropped them off at Birmingham Airport.

The complaint was brought to the attention of the wife of the firm’s owner, Dennis Lamb, but, the inquest was told, she failed to act on the information.

Mr Lamb told the inquest he would have stopped Wiesztort from driving but said his wife did not realise how serious the complaint was.

Detective Constable Helen Neaverson, of Nottinghamshire Police, told the inquest: “Tragically, no action was taken to bring that to the attention of anyone to intervene.

“If the police had been informed, there is a very, very strong chance we could have done something about it.”

The company was later found to have no formal complaints procedure at the time of the accident.

Earlier in proceedings, Rachael Price, Mr Buckley’s partner of seven years, read out two heartfelt statements.

She said: “I would like to say it’s got easier. However, it hasn’t.

“In fact, at times, things have got much harder.

“We put our trust in taxi drivers and expect certain standards to be in place.”

Hayley Barsby, Director of Communities said: “A hearing was held to review the operator’s licence of the taxi company Aaeron Cars & Elite Cars. The licensing authority, on consideration of all the evidence, took the decision to revoke the licence on 9 December 2016. This will be effective from 1 January 2017.

“If a licensing authority becomes aware of any conduct on the part of an operator that appears to render them unfit to continue to hold a licence then consideration must be given to this. As the licencing authority for Mansfield district we not only have a duty to promote standards that protect the public, we expect all licence holders and applicants to continuously demonstrate that they meet the standards required by legislation and policy. It is incumbent on all licencing authorities to exercise the powers given to them to ensure public safety is a paramount consideration. “

Aaeron Cars and Elite Cars had not replied to our request for a comment on Friday afternoon.