VIDEO evidence captured by a 'schoolboy detective' has been used to convict two Brynmawr taxi drivers of using their mobile phones while driving children to school.

John Phillips aged 41 of King Street Cwm, Ebbw Vale and Leslie Seswick aged 40 of Penallt Estate, Llanelly Hill, Abergavenny were charged with driving while using a mobile phone.

The drivers are employed by G&H Taxis of Brynmawr, which is contracted by Monmouthshire County Council to take pupils to King Henry VIII School.

The drivers were filmed covertly by 14-year old King Henry pupil Dylan, who was 'deeply disturbed' by the manner in which he was being driven to school.

To prove to others that his concerns were justified the pupil sought to capture evidence on his Blackberry phone of the drivers operating their vehicles while using their mobiles.

The video evidence was then handed over to the police.

Abergavenny magistrates heard last Friday that Dylan had filmed Phillips driving, whilst using a mobile phone at 8.15am on March 26 and Seswick at 8.07am the following day.

Prosecutor Jean Morton praised Dylan for his actions in bringing such conduct to the attention of the authorities.

The magistrates concurred and convicted both Phillips and Seswick, neither of whom were in court, and said that because children were involved they would be fined £400 for the offence of using a mobile phone whilst driving.

Both drivers will have their licence endorsed with three penalty points and were ordered to pay £85 costs and £15 victim's surcharge.

A spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council praised Dylan for his 'quick thinking' in capturing the pair on video and stressed that the safety of pupils was 'paramount' to the authority.

"MCC?takes the safety of its pupils very seriously and we thank Dylan for his quick thinking in bringing this to our attention as it's only through reports of poor behaviour that we can set about dealing with it,"?he said.

Speaking after the court hearing Dylan's mother Sadie Ewers said she had doubted her son's concerns until she has been presented with the video clips at which time she had contacted the headteacher of King Henry VIII Comprehensive School, Monmouthshire Youth Services and Monmouthshire County Council's health and safety officer with concerns, who all said they would look into her complaint."

Ms Ewers said was pleased with the outcome of the court proceedings but added, "We've never had an apology from the taxi company or Monmouthshire County Council over the incident.

"Using a mobile phone and driving is not legal, it's not acceptable especially when children's lives are at risk.

"I am disappointed that the two drivers are still employed by the taxi firm, even though they are no longer on the school run."

Dylan added, "I knew that people around me didn't really believe me when I told them about what was going on, so I felt the only way to prove it was to catch them at it and film them using their phones whilst driving.

"I managed to record the two drivers using their phones while driving and one of the videos showed the driver had no hands on the steering wheel whilst he changed gear."

CLICK ON THE VIDEO BUTTON ON THIS PAGE TO SEE THE TWO VIDEOS CAPTURED BY DYLAN