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240 
EMPLOYEES FACE FORGERY, FRAUD AND PERJURY CHARGES
Page 77
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A LLEGATIONS of forgery, fraud and perjury were made against employees of a West rx country transport firm at Shepton Mallet Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
By-Pass Transport (St. Austell) Ltd., Gover Road, St. Austell, Cornwall, and five employees including its secretary, were summoned on 77 charges under the Road Transport Act 1960, the Forgery Act 1913, and the Perjury Act 1911.
Of these, charges of failing to keep proper drivers' records and driving without observing statutory rest periods were adjourned sine die and the proceedings dealt only with 25 indictable offences.
Accused were Colin David Rowe, aged 27, of Kent Villas, West Shepton Mallet (4 charges of forgery, 3 of perjury and I of intent to defraud); Richard Robert Champion, aged 29, of Kilver Street, Shepton Mallet (2 charges of forgery, 1 perjury, and intent to deceive); Arthur Henry Dan, aged 28, of Charlton Road, Shepton Mallet (4 charges of forgery); Arthur Maurice Cox, aged 27, of Whitestone Road, Shepton Mallet (3 charges of forgery, and 2 of perjury), and George Henry Pompey, aged 36, of Woods Road, Street, Somerset (4 charges of perjury).
Mr. Paul Clark' appeared on behalf of the Ministry of Transport and Mr. Michael Green appeared for all the defendants with the exception of Pompey, who was granted legal aid.
Mr. Clark said the company operated a fleet of six articulated car transporter vehicles on A and B licences. Many of its drivers had to undertake long journeys difficult to accomplish in 11 hours. He alleged that times were falsified to pretend that long journeys had been accomplished in well under 11 hours. He alleged that another method was to pretend that drivers stopped short of the return journey and the records omitted to show that the drivers did in fact return to the depot the same night. A third device, said Mr. Clark, covered only part of a journey.
"The driver who actually does the driving makes out a second record as if by and in the name of another driver, but this is found out because other records show that the second driver was elsewhere that day."
A fourth method was where the aid of another driver was involved to keep false records to cover part of the journey. "This is so particularly in the case of Dan, who is the company secretary but who also did a certain amount of driving," said Mr. Clark.
Mr. James Inness, Ministry of Transport traffic examiner stationed at Taunton, spoke of conflicting statements by some of the drivers; of records made out in the handwriting of one driver but apparently signed by someone else; of records purporting to show a driver in one part of the country while another record showed he was driving a different vehicle miles away on that particular day.
The accused were committed to Somerset Quarter Sessions at Wells on May 23. All reserved their defence and were granted bail in the sum of £20 each.