Abdalgadar Yaqoub, of Waterloo Road, Southampton, pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates’ Court on 18 September 2026 and was convicted of two offences.
What happened
In the early hours of 25 April 2026, officers on a test purchase operation approached Mr Yaqoub’s vehicle on Belmont Road. He agreed to take them to Dee Road in Tilehurst without a prior booking.
Private hire conditions only allow pre-booked work. Accepting a street or rank-style job without a booking can leave the journey uninsured, which is why councils prosecute both the hire offence and the insurance offence together.
Sentence
Magistrates fined Mr Yaqoub £553 for using a motor vehicle without insurance and put six penalty points on his driving licence. For plying for hire there was no separate penalty. He was also ordered to pay a £221 victim surcharge and £500 towards prosecution costs, bringing the total to £1,274.
The convictions were for using a motor vehicle without insurance, contrary to section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, and plying for hire, contrary to section 45 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847.
What Reading says
Cllr John Ennis, lead councillor for climate strategy and transport, said the safety of the travelling public was of paramount importance, and that customers are entitled to trust the person driving is properly vetted, authorised, checked and licensed. He said illegal taxi rides put passengers into untraceable and often uninsured journeys, undermine the licensing system, compromise safety and deprive legitimate taxi drivers of work. Reading said it would keep dealing robustly with illegal activity to protect the night-time economy.
Anyone with concerns about taxi or private hire drivers in Reading can report them in confidence to licensing@reading.gov.uk or the council contact centre on 0118 937 3787.