Cumbria catches fish hauliers
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SAP Scottish hauliers
Cumbria police on carrying fish from Aberdeen to the Continent led to seven ownerdrivers working as subcontractors for Blue Water Shipping appearing before Kendal magistrates. They were accused of falsifying tachograph records, overloading and using a vehicle with defective brakes.
Robert Muir, of Lauder, admitted three offences of falsification and fourth to be taken into account. He was fined £900 and ordered to pay £54 prosecution costs. David Shepherd, a driver employed by Muir, also of Lauder, admitted two offences of falsification, and was fined £300 with £54 costs.
Richard Henson, prosecuting, asked for a said that following a fatal accident on the M6, police had carried out both silent and physical checks on the defendants' vehicles.
In particular, they had targeted Saturday nights, said Henson, as it was the practice for the operators concerned to meet the Faroe Island ferry in Aberdeen on the Friday and load up for Monday morning markets in Germany, France and Spain.
In Muir's case he had driven for as much as 42 hours and 34 minutes and 65 hours and 43 minutes without taking the required amount of daily rest, said Henson. One chart purported to show Muir driving into Poole harbour at 90kn-iih. When interviewed, Muir had admitted driving from Lauder to Aberdeen, and then to Spain and
back without stopping and he had admitted that he had used seven tachograph charts for a period of four days.
Muir's vehicle had been doublemanned and Shepherd had been the second driver, said Henson, Muir said it had been his first run on that work, which he no longer did. The offences had been caused by pressure to make the deliveries on time.
The hearing of the cases against the other operators, Graham Stewart, Norman Elrick Junior, and Graham Thomson, all accused of chart falsification; Douglas Towler, accused of overloading and using a vehicle with defective brakes; Robert Duncan accused of chart falsification and overloading; and George Davidson, a partner of George Davidson Haulage Contractor, of Fraserburgh, accused of chart falsification and obstructing the police, was adjourned until the beginning of September.