Source: This is Gloucestershire
A TAXI driver who answered his mobile phone while driving has been stripped of his licence.
Kevin Gamble said he took the call to hear test results for his sick son.
But Cheltenham councillors refused to be persuaded and chose to revoke his right to drive a Hackney carriage.
He was hauled in front of the borough council’s licensing committee after he was stopped by police on Gold Cup day in March.
Mr Gamble asked for clemency but councillors said they had to take into account the fact he was also banned from the roads in 2008.
The committee heard that the taxi driver usually wore a hands-free phone kit while behind the wheel, but discovered it was broken the day before the Gold Cup.
With the town packed with tourists, he delayed getting a new one until after the climax to the Cheltenham Festival.
Mr Gamble said his son, who has now been diagnosed with asthma, went to hospital on the morning of race day and he was anxiously waiting to hear the doctors’ verdict.
“I was expecting a phone call from my ex-partner,” he said.
“The phone rang and I answered. It was Gold Cup day so it was busy and the traffic wasn’t flowing, although I know that isn’t an excuse.
“I was trying to find somewhere to pull over and within 200 yards I saw the lights and the police pulled me over.”
Mr Gamble told councillors he loved his job.
“I need it because I have got a holiday booked next month for me and my children,” he said.
“It is the first one we have had in four years, but if I lose my licence I will not be able to afford it.
“I will never make this mistake again.”
At the committee meeting, chairman Diggory Seacombe said: “I’m afraid it is not your day, Mr Gamble.
“We’ve heard what you have told us, but unfortunately the vote has gone against you.”
Although Mr Gamble was only called before the committee because of the phone offence, councillors were obliged to take into account his previous misdemeanours.
In 2006, he was stopped twice for ignoring traffic signals and was then caught speeding in a 30mph zone in 2007 and 2008.
He was disqualified from driving for six months in 2008 after speeding again.
Councillors voted by six to one to revoke his licence.
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Only power mad idiot councillors, with no idea about the taxi trade and the trials and tribulations taxi drivers go through or how hard it is to make a living anyway,would be so cruel as to take this mans badge. This Country Sucks.
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