Bogus taxi driver from Stoneleigh jailed for two years

A man who tried to pass himself off as a black cab driver has been jailed for two years.

Terence O’Leary, 51, of Stoneleigh Broadway, Epsom, was spotted in January driving a black cab in London with forged area identifiers - displayed on a sticker inside all black cabs with the licence details of the driver. 

He was arrested and police found a forged taxi driver licence and three forged taxi driver badges when they searched his home address.

While he was on bail, information was received by the police that O’Leary was trying to hire a taxi from a company using a licence that appeared to be forged and he was again arrested.

O’Leary, who has never been a licensed taxi driver, appeared at Kingston Crown Court earlier this month and was jailed for two years for nine offences under the Fraud Act.

The five-month investigation into the offences was led by the Met Police’s safer transport command (STC), in partnership with TfL’s taxi and private hire directorate (TPH).

Siwan Hayward, TfL's acting director of community safety, enforcement and policing, added: "Fraudulent activities that put the travelling public at risk or undermine the legitimate and law-abiding taxi trade will not be tolerated."