Tribunal rules on operators' licences
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AN APPEAL by two operators from Stockport against the revoking of their operators' licences has been partly allowed, with the period of disqualification being removed.
At the London Transport Tribunal Michael Dyer and Albert
Cork, trading as M&B Transport, appealed against the decision of the Licensing Authority for the Manchester Area, who revoked their 0-licences when judging them to be of bad repute.
The 0-licences were revoked after a public inquiry in Manchester in April. Both Mr Dyer and Mr Cork had accumulated a large number of offences, and these were all taken into consideration when viewing their characters.
The offences had been dealt with by Rochdale magistrates' court on February 3. They included exceeding gross plated weights, aiding and abetting false entries in record books, driving while disqualified, driving with no insurance, failing to give names and addresses, and giving false statements to get insurance.
Although these were serious offences, their solicitor, Mr W. Allsager said, they were not "articulate speakers", and were not represented at the court appearances, nor indeed at the Manchester public inquiry, and so could not explain the circumstances of the convictions.
The transcript of the trial was accurate, but not full, the solicitor said. The answers his clients gave were not expanded upon at all.
As Mr Dyer and Mr Cork did not expect to have their 0licences revoked at the Manchester inquiry, they had no solicitor present. Therefore the inquiry did not hear of their "good standing" in the haulage industry.
Their transport company, based at Heaton Mersey, Stockport, has three lorries and employs three drivers, themselves and a third employee. Most of their work is subcontract business, carrying goods for a large retail outlet.
This company would not employ M&B Transport, if they were of bad repute, the solicitor said. Unfortunately this had not been explained to the public inquiry in April, and so was not acceptable as evidence at the Tribunal, said John lnskip, Tribunal president. However, it would not be totally discounted when considering the grant of an appeal.
The Manchester LA had dealt too harshly with Mr Dyer and Mr Cork, their solicitor explained. The Rochdale magistrates' court had seen fit not to close down their business and declare them bankrupt, as it felt it was unfair to cause such hardship on the three dependent families of the drivers. Instead it had imposed a total fine of £2,000 that had to be paid off E150 each month.
In allowing the appeal, Mr lnskip told them they could reapply for an 0-licence, allowing the LA to further investigate Mr Dyer's and Mr Cork's background.
The 0-licences will be revoked from September 27. The reasons for the granting of the appeal would be published later, Mr lnskip said.