BRSL lose high-load appeal
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• The conviction of British Road Services Ltd, and one of its drivers, Mr David Patrick Hopper, of causing danger by using a trailer for an unsuitable purpose, was upheld in the High Court on Tuesday.
Lord Parker (the Lord Chief Justice), Mr Justice Melford Stevenson and Mr Justice Cooke, sitting in the Queen's Bench Divisional Court, dismissed with costs in appeal by BRS and Mr Hopper against their conviction by magistrates at Gloucester on September 8. The magistrates had fined BRS £25 and the driver £15.
Mr Justice Melford Stevenson, giving judgment, said that the driver of the trailer, which was loaded with two fork-lift trucks, encountered a footbridge on a Gloucester ring road. When he attempted to pass under the bridge, the rear fork-lift truck struck and damaged it because the overall height of the load was 17ft 3in. and the bridge had headroom of only 16ft 9in.
The judge said that at the moment of time when the trailer reached the bridge it was clearly unsuitable for the purpose for which it was being used.
Lord Parker and Mr Justice Cooke agreed that the appeal should be dismissed.