Prison threat for VED fraud
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• Cumbrianbased coach operator Thomas Gordon has been given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and Fmed £19,800 including costs for falsification of tachograph charts and vehicle excise fraud.
Gordon, principal partner in Gordon's of Kirkbride, pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to 36 counts of aiding and abetting drivers to make false declarations in applications for vehicle excise licences.
Prosecuting, Mark Laprell said that Gordon had gained a commercial advantage over his competitors by operating shuttle services to Austria with two drivers instead of three. Tachograph charts and passenger logs were falsified to suggest that three drivers were being used.
The false tachograph charts were either in the name of Gordon or his brother, or were left blank for Gordon to fill in at his convenience. The hours limits were exceeded on a regular basis. The average driving time was 15 hours.
Defending, William Waldron said that the offences had arisen against a background of expensive coaches, a massive overdraft, increasing interest payments, and Gordon's attempts to keep the business going. It was not a question of Gordon trying to make a quick profit; he had been under considerable pressure and had overstretched himself.
Assistant Recorder Robert Platts said Gordon had avoided an immediate prison sentence by the "skin of his teeth".