Restrictions imposed on public service vehicle licence of man with cannabis conviction ‘irrational’, judge rules

A High Court judge has quashed a restriction imposed by gardaí on a small public service vehicle (SPSV) licence granted to a man convicted for possession of drugs for sale or supply in 2009.

Keith McKenna’s application for an SPSV licence should be remitted to An Garda Síochána “for the purpose of granting” an SPSV licence to him, Mr Justice Charles Meenan said.

The judge believed it was “irrational and unreasonable” to attach a condition restricting McKenna’s licence to employment at Diamond Limousines and Vintage Wedding Car Hire, which is his cousin’s business.

Given McKenna’s criminal record, it may not have been unreasonable for provision to be made for him to operate his licence under the supervision and/or direction of an appropriate person, Mr Justice Meenan said.

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Gardaí initially refused to grant a licence to McKenna (51), with an address at Springfield, Dooradoyle, Co Limerick, but he won a District Court appeal against this refusal.

McKenna, who works as a truck driver, was then issued with a licence restricted to employment at Diamond.

An Garda Síochána is required, under the Taxi Regulation Act of 2013, to assess whether an applicant is suitable to hold an SPSV licence, which generally permits a driver to operate all SPSVs, including taxis and limousines.

McKenna was in 2017 sentenced to five years in prison, with half of this suspended, after pleading guilty at Limerick Circuit Court to possessing some €100,000 worth of cannabis for the purpose of sale or supply in March 2009.

He was earlier jailed for seven years by a UK court after pleading guilty in December 2009 to importing £1.14 million worth of cannabis to the UK in May 2005.

During the High Court hearing in April, McKenna’s senior counsel, Feichín McDonagh, said his client has been rehabilitating himself and is “turning his life around”. He said the District Court judge found McKenna was a suitable candidate for an SPSV licence and gardaí cannot revisit the issue of suitability by imposing conditions.

While his client has an offer of employment from his cousin, there was “no guarantee” he will be employed there for the duration of the SPSV licence’s five-year validity.

The Commissioner of An Garda Síochána’s senior counsel said McKenna told the District Court judge he had no desire to drive taxis and would just be driving wedding cars. The judge granted the appeal against the refusal on the basis McKenna was only going to drive for his cousin, the Commissioner submitted.

In his ruling published on Friday, Mr Justice Charles Meenan said the licensing authority’s power, under the 2013 Act, to attach conditions “as it sees fit” is not without limitations.

It seemed to him that the purpose of the 2013 Act is to protect members of the public who use SPSV services. This must be balanced with McKenna’s constitutional right to earn a livelihood, the judge said.

Any conditions imposed on a licence must be “rational, reasonable and proportional”, and it is not open to gardaí to impose a condition “so restrictive as to, in effect, set at nought the decision of the District Court”.

The judge said that if McKenna’s cousin’s business changes its name the licence would be no longer valid. Further, McKenna could potentially style himself as being “Diamond Limousines and Vintage Wedding Car Hire”, which would “defeat the whole purpose of the condition”.

For these reasons, the judge believed the condition was irrational and unreasonable and should be quashed.