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Taxi driver fined

Posted on Wednesday 21st November 2018

A taxi driver who was caught smoking in her vehicle on several occasions has been prosecuted by Newport City Council.

Helen Elizabeth Jones of Chepstow Road, Newport, broke the law when she was found smoking in her taxi which is classed as a smoke-free place under the Health Act 2006.

Miss Jones had previously received five Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for smoking or littering between 2016 and 2018. One of these went unpaid and she was prosecuted by the council in 2017 and the court imposed a fine of £220 plus costs.

A senior council manager then witnessed her smoking in her taxi and throwing a cigarette butt on the ground in June 2018.

Because of the previous offences it was decided to proceed straight to a prosecution as opposed to offering her another FPN.

Community safety wardens then witnessed her smoking in her taxi on another two occasions and these were added to the prosecution.

In all Miss Jones was prosecuted at Cwmbran Magistrate’s Court for four offences – one of littering and three of smoking. She was found guilty in her absence as she did not attend court.

She received the maximum fine of £200 per offence for the three smoking offences due to the persistent offending and her blatant disregard for the law.

In total she was ordered to pay £980 including costs.

Councillor Ray Truman, Cabinet Member for Licensing and Regulation said: “The legislation to prevent smoking in smoke-free places was introduced to protect members of the public from the harmful effects of second hand cigarette smoke.

“Officers will not tolerate breaches of the law and as demonstrated by this case, repeat offenders will be dealt with robustly.

“In addition the council takes littering offences seriously due to the impact on the image of the city and the substantial clean-up costs.”

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