A MAN who touched a 16-year-old girl without her consent has been blocked from driving a private hire car in Glasgow.

Police Scotland objected to Humed Saleh Idris’s licence bid after routine checks revealed the conviction, which he had not declared on his application.

An officer told the city’s licensing committee that the applicant had been convicted of the sexual offence in 2021, following an incident in Cumbernauld in 2019.

She said Mr Idris “touched” a 16-year-old female “to the buttocks and thigh without her consent”. Police Scotland believed the applicant was “not a fit and proper person to be granted a private hire licence”.

Councillor Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the committee, said: “Why should we give you a licence based on what we’ve just heard from Police Scotland?

“You’ve been charged with a sexual offence. You were found guilty of that. What makes you a fit and proper person to be holding a licence in this city?

“Do you think you should be given a licence given the fact that you sexually assaulted a female?”

The applicant said he believed he should receive a licence, but did not explain why he was a safe person to drive people around the city. Councillors decided to refuse his request.