Redhead's six driving periods in six days not allowed
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• In one of the first cases dealing with the interpretaion of the new driver's hours regulations, the Bradford Magistrates decided that it was not permissible for a driver to have more than six daily driving periods within six days when they imposed fines and costs totalling 2920 on Redhead Freight and three of its drivers.
Driver Patrick Kelly of Dungiven, Northern Ireland, was fined a total of £180 on five offences of failing to take sufficient weekly rest and one offence of taking insufficient daily rest, with E20 prosecution costs. Geoffrey Bowman of Bradford was fined 2150 for three weekly rest offences and ordered to pay £10 prosecution costs. Driver Paul Feasby of Bradford was E150 for two offences of failing to complete the centre field tachograph charts with 210 prosecution costs.
Redhead Freight was cleared of causing the offences committed by Kelly and Bowman, but was convicted of causing Feasby's offences and fined a total of 2400.
Stephen Kirkbright, defending, said the company's belief that it was possible to have seven daily driving periods in six days was widely held in the haulage industry. Neither Kelly, Bowman nor the company had any previous convictions for driver's hours offences. It was not alleged that Feasby had exceeded the hours limits or that he had deliberately tried to mislead: his offences consisted of technical administrative errors.