Norbert driver cleared on load
Page 23
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Norbert Dentr•e-ssangle driver Patrick Chicoiene was cleared of an overloading offence after the defence had pointed out
that there was no evidence the split-plate weighbridge on which his vehicle was check-weighed had been properly tested for accuracy. Eastleigh, Hampshire magistrates heard that when Chicoiene's artic was stopped in a routine check by police last June it was found to weigh 40,890kg.
Defending, Andrew Woolf-all said that Chicoierte had collected the load of frozen vegetables in France and the paperwork he was given appeared to show that the load was within the permitted limits.
Pointing out that the prosecution had failed to produce evidence that the weighbridge used in the check had been properly tested when it was installed or had been properly calibrated, Woolfall said that in the case of Michael Murray vs DPP the High Court had laid down that a certificate of weight produced by a static weighbridge was inadmissible in the absence of any evidence as to the accuracy and testing of the weighbridge.
The prosecution withdrew the charge after the magistrates refused an application for the case to be adjourned. Chicoiene's defence costs are to be paid out of public funds.