Cab sex vetting 'cut short for asylum seekers'

Sex offender vetting on London minicab drivers is being cut short for asylum seekers, it was revealed today. Transport officials admitted they do not carry out full checks on drivers who are claiming asylum in the UK.

Critics said the decision by Ken Livingstone's Transport for London leaves women passengers exposed to potential rapists or other criminals.

The decision to exempt people applying for refugee status from full vetting was disclosed on the form filled in by thousands of drivers taking up new licences issued by TfL.

The licences are meant to ensure unfit people are not allowed to ply for trade in the capital and followed concerns over sex attacks on women passengers late at night.

The form warns applicants their details will be passed to police for criminal records checks but a footnote in bold typeface says: "With regard to overseas criminal record checks, no such checks will be made in respect of those applicants who declare that they are in possession of or who have applied for Refugee or Asylum status."

Critics say they could include sex offenders who flee to the UK to avoid prosecution and then claim asylum by posing as a victim of persecution.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "There should be no gaps in checking the criminal backgrounds of any prospective minicab driver. The whole point of a licence is that customers feel safe."

There were 167 sex assaults by minicab drivers in London last year.

A spokeswoman for Transport for London said the exemption was agreed after representations from the Refugee Council.

She claimed that asylum seekers and refugees were "by definition victims of persecution" in their home countries. "It would be absurd to expect impartial verification of their criminal record from the authorities in their countries."