A taxi driver who was involved in a collision that killed a pedestrian has lost his licence to take fares.
Mohammed Imtiaz, 46, was cleared of death by dangerous driving at Bradford Crown Court after the woman died in May 2015.
But while he retained his freedom, his means of earning a living was stripped by Kirklees Council.
Council licensing chiefs took away his taxi licence amid concerns he had failed to stop at the accident scene and had gone on to pick up more passengers with a badly damaged car.
Almost two-and-a-half-years on Mr Imtiaz, of Healds Road, Dewsbury, has lost his appeal against Kirklees Council’s decision.
The experienced taxi driver, who had a clean licence after 15 years of driving, took the council to court.
But at Kirklees Magistrates Court last week his bid for re-instatement was rejected.
The chair of the bench said the council had made “entirely the right decision” and awarded the council its costs back.
Mr Imtiaz’s trial over the horror collision took place in November last year.
The court heard Vicky Holland, 28, died from her injuries after she was hit by his Toyota Corolla as she was attempting to cross the A58 Whitehall Road in Wyke.
A jury unanimously found him not guilty after he claimed he had been unaware of the collision that caused his windscreen to smash.
He said he thought a youth had thrown a stone at his car and so carried on driving his passenger to her destination.
He attended a police station at the end of his shift after discovering the extent of the damage to his car.
Kirklees Council has revealed it also successfully defended its decision to strip the licence of another driver who had failed to inform the council of a serious offence for which he had previously been convicted.
The driver was a new applicant who failed to inform the council of serious offence he had committed.
The offence committed cast doubt into the honesty of the driver and as someone who could be trusted to deal fairly with paying customers as such the council refused his application.
Clr Naheed Mather, Cabinet member with responsibility for enforcement, said: “The council takes its enforcement role very seriously, and will always look to take action where it is necessary to ensure that the people of Kirklees can live and travel safely.”
Clr Carole Pattison, chair of the Licensing Committee said: “The council is committed to the safety of the travelling public and takes all possible measures to ensure this safety.
“The successful outcome of these appeals demonstrates the importance of our continuous partnership with the West Yorkshire Police.”
