Leslie Howard Romans

11 Cuckoo Street

Pantygog

Bridgend

The applicant was present in support of his application.

The Team Manager (Licensing) asked if the details in the report were correct and if there were any matters pending through the Courts against him, to which he replied yes and no, respectively.

She added that due to the nature of the Convictions contained in the report, and the severity of the sentences for some of these, she felt it necessary to share with Members not only Mr. Romans unspent Convictions, but his spent Convictions also. She reminded those present that one of the roles of a taxi driver, was for the public to have trust in them.

The Team Manager (Licensing) then referred to Mr. Romans previous Convictions as shown in paragraph 4.2 of the report, and she asked him to explain the circumstances that had led to each of these for the benefit of Members, commencing with the Conviction dated 17 March 1995.

Mr. Romans advised that this took place when he was entering into a Nightclub and got stopped by the Door Control person who searched him and upon doing so, had found out that he was carrying a controlled drug, namely amphetamine. He claimed that he was young and stupid then, and as he had got older he had become more responsible as a person.

The Team Manager (Licensing) asked Mr. Romans if anyone else had been involved in this, to which he replied no.

The second Conviction had taken place on 2 November 2004, and this was for Conspire/being concerned in supplying a controlled drug – Class B – Cannabis. The Team Manager (Licensing) asked Mr. Romans to give an account of the circumstances that had led to this particular Conviction, for which he was imprisoned for 4 years.

He advised that at this time of his life he had become involved with the wrong people, which he now regretted. He emphasised that the product was cannabis resin and that he had not grown this in his property etc.

The Team Manager (Licensing) sought clarification from Mr. Romans that he was supplying this, to which he replied that he was, and that he was using his own vehicle to transport this to buyers.

The Team Manager (Licensing) further noted from the Conviction that he also had to forfeit and or had other things confiscated as a result of him being caught for this offence, and she asked what these were.

Mr. Romans confirmed that he also had the vehicle taken off him as well as £990 in money that he had paid to him from buyers of the drug.

He added that he had received rehabilitation as part of his sentence where he had become a prison ‘listener’, and taken on a kind of Samaritan role, whereby he both seen and taught others the impact that drugs had on people. He had witnessed this first hand also, he added.

The Team Manager (Licensing) then asked the applicant to give an account of the offence of 20 November 2009, which was split into two. Firstly, to facilitate the acquisition/acquire/possess criminal property, and secondly, possessing controlled drugs – Class A – Cocaine. This had resulted in him having £2,930 confiscated in default, as well as him serving 2 months in prison.

Mr. Romans advised that in terms of the latter offence, his friend had got into some trouble, whereby he had given out drugs to certain individuals and had not got paid for these. He had therefore asked him to help retrieve the money for these drugs by giving Mr. Romans a list of names and how much drugs they had acquired off his friend, and in view of this, what he was owed for these.

With regard to the first offence for acquisition/possession, there had been traces of the cocaine in a bag in his property which he shared with his friend, and he was therefore convicted for possession even though it was his friends bag.

Mr. Romans added that he hadn’t actually done anything to help his friend obtain the monies for the distribution of the drugs, however, he had been approached by the Police whilst he was in a public house, and the list of people who owed his friend the money, was found in Mr. Romans car where his friend had left this. This together with traces of cocaine left in a bag in his/his friend’s house (that they were sharing) had resulted in both offences that comprised this Conviction.

The Legal Officer asked where the £2,930 had been taken from as part of the confiscation, to which Mr. Romans replied, that he had to forfeit this from his savings.

The Legal Officer also sought clarification if Mr. Romans had pleaded guilty to the offences outlined in the report, to which he replied that he had pleaded guilty to the first two offences, but not guilty to the last one. 

The Team Manager (Licensing) asked Mr. Romans if his friend could not retrieve the money owed to him for the drugs he had supplied to others, then why did he think that he could.

Mr. Romans replied that his friend had just approached him to see if he could help him collect some of the money he was owed for the drugs, and that though he was initially willing to help him here, he confessed to Members that at this time he hadn’t fully thought things through, in relation to what he had been asked to do by his friend.

The Legal Officer asked Mr. Romans what his occupation had been at the time he was committed of this offence.

He replied that it was the same as now in that he was a Roofer (self-employed) though now he undertook Contract work.

The Team Manager (Licensing) advised Mr. Romans that the role of a taxi driver was a matter of trust in that he was dealing with money in the form of taxi fares, and that he had to be a fit and proper person to adequately carry out the role, as he was also responsible for the safe custody of his travelling passengers.

Mr. Romans confirmed that he was aware of this, and that he was a much changed person now than had previously been the case around the time of his Convictions.

The Team Manager (Licensing) concluded debate on the application, by stating that she had noted that Mr. Romans had not attended the Driver Awareness Course he had been scheduled in to attend.

He responded by stating that he had not received notification of the date of the course, hence that’s why he hadn’t attended it.

The applicant and Officers then retired from the meeting, in order that Members could determine the application. Upon their return, it was

RESOLVED:                  The Sub-Committee have considered the application made by Mr. Romans, and heard evidence from him in relation to his three convictions which are all drug related. His offending history spans a period of fourteen years and in 2004 Mr. Romans received a four year term of imprisonment.

                                       The Sub-Committee have considered the Licensing Policy at 2.6 and 2.9.

                                       The Sub-Committee have to be satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold a licence as he has responsibility as a taxi driver to the members of the public.

                                      The Sub-Committee determined that because Mr. Romans has a significant offending history which relates to drug offences, he was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence and therefore refused his application.