Man with 'bingo card of offences' loses bid to drive private hires in Glasgow

A man with a “bingo card of offences” which include twice being caught with cannabis in his car has been blocked from driving private hires in Glasgow.

Haroon Nasir urged the city’s licensing chiefs to grant him a licence as he is trying to change his life around.

But councillors on the committee turned down his application following an objection from Police Scotland.

They heard how he had twice been found to be driving without insurance and twice caught with bags of cannabis in his vehicle. He also had a speeding offence.

Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the committee, said: “You seem to have tried to have a bingo card of offences, and try to get as many as you possibly could. Why?”

Nasir said: “I was younger, I didn’t think much about my future. I made mistakes. I am at a different stage of my life now, I’ve got three young children.

“I wanted to change my life around. I don’t want my past to affect my future.”

Cllr Wilson also asked: “What is your relationship with recreational drugs now?”

The applicant said he had never taken drugs but had been friends with the wrong group. He added: “I made a mistake, I regretted it. It’s not my character.

“At the time I was caught, I was ashamed of it. I took myself away from that company. I’m glad I’m away from all of that. Today, I’m a family man.”

Police Scotland reported Nasir had been fined £340 after an incident in July 2020. Officers stopped his car and checks found he had “no insurance cover as it had lapsed due to non-payment”.

Councillors then heard he had been fined £250 in May 2021 after a police search of his car found “ten individual bags of green herbal material”, which tested positive for cannabis. A mobile phone and £240 in cash were also seized.

An officer told the committee Nasir had also been fined £150 in December 2021 after he had been recorded travelling at 91mph in a 70mph area in June 2020.

He had been fined £350, was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and given a restriction of liberty order in 2018 after an incident in July of that year, the officer added.

She said when police officers had stopped his car, Nasir had admitted he had no insurance cover. There was a “strong smell of cannabis emanating from the vehicle”.

A search found almost 50 “small” bags of herbal material, councillors heard. It tested positive for cannabis. Money and a mobile phone were also seized.