A convicted killer is working as a minicab driver in Bradford after he was granted a licence by Council chiefs.

Joseph Martin was sentenced to six years in jail in December 1991 for the manslaughter of his wife who he strangled in a jealous rage.

Today, Bradford North MP Terry Rooney described the decision to grant Mr Martin a private hire licence as "outrageous".

He said: "I can't believe they have done this.

"I find it hard to imagine any circumstances where someone with a conviction for manslaughter should get a licence.

"Somebody guilty of that should never, ever hold a licence where they are involved in dealing with the public."

Mr Rooney added: "I will be in touch with the taxi licensing office and demanding an explanation and asking how this decision can be revoked.

"A taxi driver is in a position of trust, that is why they have vetting procedures. It makes you wonder what other people are getting through them. The councillors' first duty is to protect the public and they should exercise that duty."

At Mr Martin's trial at Leeds Crown Court, the jury was told how he killed his wife, Sharon, 26, at their home in Melton Terrace, Ravenscliffe, in July 1990 after a row about her going out to discos until the early hours and staying with friends.

The court heard Martin, then 47, exploded with rage when his wife suggested she had looked at other men.

After killing her he bathed and dried her, dressed her in silk pyjamas and put her to bed. He then stayed the night with her before giving himself up to police the following day.

He admitted killing her but said it was unintentional.

Mr Martin was cleared by the jury of murder but found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

The judge, Mr Justice McCullough, said at the time that the six-year sentence would "inevitably be thought insufficient" by the family of Mr Martin's wife.

Mr Martin, who is now 60, has been driving for a private hire company in Shipley for the last six months after councillors on the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Panel granted him a probationary licence in full knowledge of his criminal history.

The licence is due for renewal shortly.

Today panel chairman, Councillor Michael Walls, defended the decision to grant the licence to Mr Martin but said he was looking at the possibility of stricter criteria in the future.

"This chap has paid his penalty and carried on a blemish-free existence since his conviction," he said.

"It was a long time ago and he is now doing useful work.

"He is not likely to be a threat to anyone else. It was a domestic occurrence and he is trying to rebuild his life. To suggest he is a danger to anybody is to blow things out of proportion."

Coun Walls said the Council was looking at the issue of safety and, with the benefit of hindsight from other cases where licensed drivers had been accused of committing sex offences, it was going to be a lot stricter with the criteria for granting licences.

"We need to look at the criteria and we need a better sharing of information with other agencies, like the police," he added.

"I have already started speaking to officers about what steps we can take and I intend to educate other members of the panel and stress their responsibilities and hopefully cut out any possible problems."

Coun Walls said one idea might be to publish the names of licence applicants so the public could have a say on whether they should have a licence.

He added that public opinion could be taken into consideration when Mr Martin's licence was due for renewal.

"Normally, if there have been no problems during the probationary period a 12-month licence would be granted without it coming back before the panel. "I can't imagine he has had a problem but we will be looking at it very closely and perhaps taking a measure of the public opinion on this matter."

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said it did not send guidelines to local authorities on the recruitment of offenders for taxi or minicab jobs.

He said: "We cannot stipulate on jobs. It would be a matter for local authorities to go through their own screening process to see if a person is suitable.

"If he is not considered a danger to the public he would probably be eligible for a licence."

Joanne Waterhouse, manager of Bradford Victims' Support, said there had to be some element of rehabilitation for people who had come out of prison and they had to be given a chance of earning a living.

But she added: "You would hope there would be an element of risk assessment so they can only take up this type of employment if they weren't a risk to people.

"It could be he has served his debt to society and he isn't a risk but the questions have got to be asked."

A Council spokesman said the authority could not comment on individual cases but she added: "When someone applies for a licence to be a Hackney carriage or private hire driver, all circumstances, including any criminal record, are taken into consideration by members and officers when a decision is being made."

A spokesman for Mr Martin's employer, Shipley Central Private Hire, said: "He has been a good driver. The poor man is 60. He has done his time and suffered enough."

Mr Martin, a grandfather, who lives with his sister in Undercliffe, did not want to comment when contacted by the Telegraph & Argus.

The Council also faces the threat of being sued for negligence by the parents of a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was indecently assaulted by Hackney Carriage driver Naseem Abbas, 24, in his car after it emerged he was granted a licence despite admitting to having a previous conviction for a physical assault.

He had also been cleared of indecently assaulting an 18-year-old woman passenger a month before the sex attack on the 15-year-old, though the Council says it was not told the details until after the second allegation.

A second private hire driver has been suspended after a woman claims he sexually assaulted her in his car at a car park in May.

The 32-year-old man is on police bail pending further inquiries and is appealing against his suspension.