Kerosene case faces delay
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North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Mark Hirchliffe adjourned the consideration of disciplinary action against a Nottinghamshire haulier who was caught using rebated fuel in his vehicles until the tape of an interview with Customs officers is transcribed.
The four-vehicle international licence held by Robert Thompkins, trading as Thompkins Transport, of Retford, had previously been revoked by North Eastern TC Keith Water worth after evidence that Thompkins' vehicles were found to contain kerosene.
As a result Thompkins had paid a compounded out-ofcourt penalty of £17,072, and in 1991 he had paid a similar out-ofcourt penalty after the misuse of gas oil was detected (CM 5-11 November 1998).
That decision was quashed by the Transport Tribunal, which held that the TC had been wrong to consider that compounding was equivalent to a conviction (CM1-7 April).
The Deputy TC said this showed that if a person corn pounded it did not necessarily mean he had committed a criminal offence.
The Tribunal felt that in such cases a transcript of the interview tape should be before a Commissioner. Customs officer Richard Horler said the tape had not been transcribed and Thompkins had been only too happy for the matter to be dealt with out of court. It was an absolute offence to have kerosene In the fuel tank, and Thompkins had admitted using it.
In April 1998 one of Thompkins' vehicles was found to have contaminated Nei in a road check, said Hotter. A further four vehicles checked at his premises also had traces of contaminated fuel.
Thompkins admitted the use of 20,913 litres of kerosene as road fuel between June 1997 and April 1998, with a potential revenue loss of £8,536.67.
The Deputy TC adjourned the proceedings after James Backhouse, for Thompkins, had said he was in grave difficulty without knowing the detail of what had been said during the interview.