Smokescreen of vagueness
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• The licence held by Joseph John Wilkinson, trading as North East Transport, of Stockton-on-Tees, has been revoked with immediate effect, When North Eastern Deputy Licensing Authority Mark Hinchliffe asked why bank statements produced to a Leeds disciplinary inquiry were in the name of P&MR International, Wilkinson said that he was basically an employee of that company but had to be self-sufficient within. He was paid a weekly wage plus expenses: not a fixed sum. The vehicle was leased to P&MR. The director of P&MR, Ray Taylor, was a friend and he was doing him a service.
To keep it correct, said Wilkinson, he paid PAYE and national insurance as an employee; he was employed by P&MR but independent of its main business and was only using the company for its facilities. He paid for everything else, including tax, insurance, road tax and servicing.
In future he would not be employed by the company; he would be self-employed. The company and its directors knew nothing of this. P&MR International's number two bank account was his and he wrote cheques on that account. The business account in his own name was closed down two years ago— he agreed that he was using someone else's account and that he was the registered keeper of the vehicle.
Vehicle examiner Alan Harrod said he examined the vehicle and
No insp records availa
trailer in April, imposing an immediate prohibition on the tractor. No inspection records were available. Wilkinson claimed the records were kept abroad, mainly in Turkey Traffic examiner Malcolm Hicks said Wilkinson said charts had been stolen when the vehicle was broken into.
Wilkinson said he adhered to the drivers' hours limits. He had six months of charts with him. In January and February the vehicle was not operating as he was in hospital.
The vehicle left the UK in March and came back in late June. It was not moved for three months during that period because he was involved in a fatal accident in Hungary. Wilkinson said his vehicle was properly maintained while he was abroad.
Revoking the licence, Hinchliffe said that he believed very little of what Wilkinson had said. It seemed to him that Wilkinson was hiding behind a smokescreen of confusion and vagueness, and that was unacceptable.