11 Williams is cleared
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• Llanelli haulage company T D Williams (Brynamman) was cleared of per mitting one of its drivers to take insufficient weekly rest after Leigh Magistrates accepted that he took his weekly rest at home and was therefore entitled to take less rest.
Williams had denied permitting Robert Langan to take insufficient weekly rest on two occasions, and failing to ensure that he returned tachograph charts within 21 days. Langan denied one of the weekly rest offences, but admitted the other and failing to return his charts.
P C Graham Robinson, of the Greater Manchester police, said that when he stopped Langan's vehicle on the East Lancashire Road in September he had in his possession charts going back to 9 July.
For the prosecution, it was said that Langan was based at Swansea: for the whole of the week he had started and finished at Swansea. He was allowed to keep his vehicle at home, and that was where the vehicle was based for the purposes of the regulations. If that was right, Langan should have taken 36 hours rest, and he had not done so.
Stephen Kirkbright, defending, said that the regulations gave flexibility over the amount of weekly rest to be taken, as they said: "Where the vehicle was normally based or where the driver was based". That suggested the vehicle's base could change but the driver's base was not likely to. In this case the "base" was the start of the international journey — which was Brynamman and not Swansea.
Andrew Williams, a director, said he had asked Langan to hand in his charts on a number of occasions, but he had just forgotten. Langan said that it had been his fault, and the magistrates cleared the company of failing to ensure the charts were handed in.
Langan was fined 2100 for the weekly rest and for failing to hand in his chart.