A Royton man jailed for a theft related offence has been told he can’t drive buses or coaches professionally by the Deputy Traffic Commissioner (DTC) for the North West.
Gary Stevenson, 57, applied to renew his entitlement to drive public service vehicles but DTC Miles Dorrington refused to give him a professional licence. The decision follows a conduct hearing on June 14 this year.
The hearing was called to consider Mr Stevenson’s conviction after he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Manchester Crown Court in June 2015. Between 2011 and 2013, Gary and Carol Stevenson took a total of £45,956 from an elderly neighbour by fraudulently cashing cheques, withdrawing cash from his bank account and obtaining a credit card in his name.
At the conduct hearing, Mr Stevenson told the DTC he wanted to go back to driving buses because it was a job he enjoyed. He said he accepted the crime was sustained over a long period of time and added that he was sorry for what he had done.
Refusing his application, the regulator said there was no realistic prospect of Mr Stevenson getting his licence back for at least a year, even without any further convictions being recorded.
“I have refused this application because a serious crime of dishonesty was sustained over a long period of time,” the DTC said.