Glasgow man found with cannabis gets private hire licence from council

A man found with cannabis worth an estimated £1,500 has been given permission to drive a private hire car, after councillors heard he has “improved his life”.

Martin Boyle’s bid for a licence was granted for a restricted period of one year, following an objection from Police Scotland. He was also issued a “severe warning” over his future conduct.

An officer told Glasgow’s licensing chiefs that although the applicant’s convictions were “ordinarily considered spent”, they were “deemed to be relevant” to the committee.

He said Mr Boyle had been convicted after a police search of an address in Glasgow in February 2020 uncovered “10 bars of cannabis, each bar weighing 100g, with a value of £150 per bar”.

“The applicant was convicted of being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug, namely cannabis,” he added.

Mr Boyle was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and issued with a restriction of liberty order for nine weeks, the committee heard.

Councillor Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the committee, asked the police: “There is no way you could possibly say that 10 bars of cannabis was for personal use?”

The officer responded: “In 22 years of policing, I’d say no.”

However, a representative for the applicant said: “I would ask you to take into consideration the following, the conviction for which he is convicted is concerning the supply, it’s not possession with intent to supply.”

He said Mr Boyle had explained he was going through a “period of depression” after a “toxic relationship”. “He wasn’t a drinker, he was a smoker.”

His representative added the incident “correlated with the lockdown period” and “he had come across a person who gave him a deal that was in his view ‘too good to be true’”.

The applicant took the deal to “reduce the number of times he would have to frequent any dealer’s house”, councillors were told.

“He has improved his life,” the representative added. “Certainly by way of his mental health.”

They also heard how Mr Boyle had previously been fined £180 after he behaved in a “threatening and abusive manner” in September 2017.

His representative said that there had been an “unfortunate situation” involving a “chance encounter” with a former partner. He added it was “out of character” and there had “not been any repeat of that”.

Mr Boyle told the committee that he was “no longer involved” with drugs. “I was in a bad place then, I’m in a different place now,” he added.

“I’m quite a good driver, I don’t have any points. I enjoy working with people. I need to be back in the workforce, this is an opportunity for me to prove that I’ve changed.”