1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192 
Father and son tacho fiddlei given community service
Page 33
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
An operator and his son narrowly escape jail for 'sophisticated' tachc offences using an interrupter switch — and still face a public inquiry.
A FATHER and son who fiddled tachograph records to avoid taking midday breaks have each been sentenced to 100 hours of community service and fined a total of £2,500. They narrowly escaped jail and face further action against their licence at a public inquiry.
John Barnes and his son Martin run a two-vehicle operation based at Galgate, near Lancaster. At Preston Crown Court they pleaded guilty to 20 specimen offences of falsifying tachograph records using an interrupter switch between 7 January and 27 May 2005.
They were each given 100-hour Community Punishment Orders with fines and costs totalling £1,250.
Numerous offences Prosecuting for VOS A,Toby Sasse said Martin Barnes drove one of two 32-tonne four-axled tippers for his father, who had been responsible for installing the wires:111e aggravating feature in these cases was the method of falsification, which was sophisticated and not easily detected. Motorway driving was involved and numerous offences had been committed over a short period of time.
The offences came to light when the tachograph records were compared with weighbridge timings from Bardon Aggregates Quarry at Nether Kellet. The apparent motive was to disguise the fact that both men were driving and working when they should have been taking the required breaks.
Mark Laprell. appearing for both men, said John Barnes had been stupidly tempted by the gadget. and simply wished to finish early. Both defendants were postponing rest rather than not taking it. They had neither breached the daily driving limit nor taken insufficient daily rest. What they had done was avoided taking a 45-minute break in the middle of the day.
"They could have committed worse offences with a fair hope of not being detected." Laprell added. There had been no commercial gain, as most days involved four to live deliveries per day, mostly at a distance of between 45 and 70 minutes driving time from the quarry.
Martin Barnes had not claimed that there was any pressure from his father for hin as he had.
Laprell told the court that John Barr likely to lose his 0-licence as a result o offences, which would close down the hi after 32 years. The vocational driving Ii of the two men would also he the subjt public inquiry.
No corruption
Passing sentence, Judge Brown said graph offences generally resulted in cu sentences. He took account of the fac was no question of corruption. financia I long distances involved. as well as the flu consequences of the disciplinary procc which he had been told would follow. •