Operator's licence suspended
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IN an unusual case before the Northern Licensing Authority, Mr J. A. T. Hanlon, at Durham Crown Court last week Mr Kenneth Lowley of 5 Amoerley Crescent, Gateshead, was brought from prison for consideration of revocation, suspension or curtailment of his 0 licence.
Lowley was serving nine months imprisonment for receiving stolen timber and the LA took into account earlier convictions, before Gateshead magistrates, for operating without an 0 licence and failing to enter and examine drivers' records. There were also a number of GV9 prohibitions against his vehicles.
In evidence, Lowley said he had been in prison since July and the earliest release date was January. His vehicles were now idle and the second-hand timber business at a standstill. Three vehicles were specified on the licence, a flat wagon and two tippers.
Admitting maintenance difficulties, he said a caravan used as an office at the original base had burned down and all the records were destroyed.
He had moved to new premises in Gateshead where £300 had been spent in improving facilities.
Referring to a vehicle which received an im mediate GV9 when sent for test, with 12 . defects, Mr i Lowley said t was a new purchase and had been put out to a self-employed fitter. The convictions for using an unauthorized vehicle arose because a replacement vehicle had not received a licence transfer.
Questioned about financial resources, Lowley agreed that after sentence at the Crown Court an order was made against him for the payment of £1,700 compensation. He had money in the bank and was the tenant of a Gateshead public house which was being looked after by his wife. If he was able to start up in business again when he came out of prison he would be able to pay.
Mr Hanlon said the licence was granted for the use of vehicles in Lowley's timber business; stolen timber had been carried in them. The conviction could not be dealt with under the Transport Act, but the other convictions and the prohibitions clearly came under section 69. Two of the three specified vehicles would be removed from the licence and the licence itself suspended for two months. There would be a full inspection and the facilities and vehicles must be of the required standard before the licence was returned.