A taxi driver convicted of sexually assaulting three female passengers had his licence immediately revoked after admitting the crimes, gardaí have clarified following concerns raised about the case in the Dáil.
Last February, Mansoor Uddin (41), a married father-of-three, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the sexual assaults in 2016.
His case was further adjourned last Tuesday to allow for the preparation of a pre-sentencing report.
However, following some apparent confusion regarding his ability to continue driving his taxi ahead of sentencing, the Dáil was told on Thursday that the law required examination.
Raising the case, Sinn Féin justice spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said “bail conditions have been agreed for this man that stipulate that he can continue to drive a taxi but that female passengers are not permitted as front seat passengers”.
But, he went on, “this man is still entitled to drive a taxi and carry passengers including women”.
Mr Ó Laoghaire said Transport Minister Shane Ross needed to immediately review the law to assess whether it required alteration.
However, not long after his comments, gardaí issued a statement to say Uddin, of Castleway, Adamstown, Lucan, Co Dublin, had in fact been stripped of his taxi licence immediately following his February guilty plea.
Following the conviction, sergeant Aoife Cronin of National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) referred the matter to the Garda Carriage Office.
“On the 28th February 2019 the Small Public Service Vehicle Licence was revoked with immediate effect for this male driver,” the statement clarified.
Uddin sexually assaulted two of the women separately on the same night in February, 2016 after demanding one of them get out of his taxi when he saw her trying to get a photo of his identification. The first sexual assault took place the previous month.
Gardaí used CCTV footage, a database of registered public service vehicles and a computer-generated likeness from one victim to identify him.
They also used GPS coordinates from the Halo app which confirmed Uddin had travelled the three routes outlined by the women.
