Lincoln Haulage' licence revoked
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• The 40-vehicle, 18-trailer, licence of Lincoln Haulage of Haughton-Le-Spring has been revoked by North Eastern Licensing Authority, Frederick Whalley. Its managing director Leonard Lincoln has been disqualified from holding or obtaining an 0 licence, tie is also disqualified from having anything to do with a company that is a licence holder for a period of five years.
The decision follows the conviction in January of Lincoln at Teesside Crown Court on four offences of making false instruments, four offences of using false instruments and four offences of receiving stolen excise licences.
In evidence, Lincoln said that though he had resigned as transport manager on 14 October he had retained a controlling interest. He held 3,490 shares and his son Stephen, who now ran the company, held 10.
Questioned by the LA. Lincoln said he had intended to concentrate on alternative business activities. Other offences had been taken into account at Teesside and the duty involved totalled 221,000. The company had been under financial pressure as a result of the miners' strike and he had purchased the stolen discs from a man he had dealt with previously for second-hand tyres.
At the time his only concern had been the need to save the business. He admitted that a number of overloading convictions had not been declared when the company applied for its current licence.
For the company it was said that the judge at the Crown Court had decided not to impose an immediate prison sentence because of Lincoln's previous good character, and he had distinguished the case from others because the whole of the outstanding duty had been paid prior to the court appearance. The revocation of the licence would be nothing less than devastation for a company with an annual turnover of million.
Whalley said one transgression in a long history did not necessarily mean a loss of repute. The purchase of four separate stolen discs, however, and other offences that were not disclosed, drove him to the conclusion that the company, through its managing director, had lost its repute. He directed his decision not to take effect pending the determination of an appeal by the company.
o Whalley indicated that he would be prepared to grant a new 20 vehicle licence to Lincoln Haulage (Haughton-leSpring), a company formed by Stephen Lincoln and his wife, provided further information that the maintenance arrangements and financial resources proved satisfactory.
He took the view that though Stephen's repute had been tarnished as a director of Lincoln Haulage he had not lost his repute, neither was he unfit to hold a licence.