Prisoner's Appeal Allowed
Page 29
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AN appeal by a Middlesbrough roadhaulier, said to be serving a threeyear prison sentence for receiving, against the Northern Licensing Authority's refusal to grant him an A licence for a lorry, has been allowed by the Tribunal.
Mr. N. L. C. Macaskie said that in refusing the application for a renewal of an A licence by George Thomas, of Station Road, South Bank, Middlesbrough, the Licensing Authority had been influenced by a previous conviction against Thomas who was jailed in 1952 for three years, also for receiving.
" In our view he (the Licensing Authority) should not have taken this matter into account at all and because he treated it as material it is sufficient to invalidate his decision," said Mr. Macaskie. There was no evidence that the fact that the appellant was a haulier played any part in the events which led to his 1952 conviction.
"We agree with the Licensing Authority," continued Mr. Macaskie,
"that the appellant's use of a B licensed vehicle to carry stolen goods was a matter of importance to which he was bound to have regard when consider ing the appellant's application. This bad conduct called for some kind of penalty, but in assessing this penalty regard should be paid to the prison sentence he is serving now.
"The appellant's misconduct will be sufficiently penalized if the issue of the licence which he would be granted was suspended for three months.
"We direct that subject to the application being amended to the satisfaction of the authority, the A licence be effective from March 25, 1961, to be issued in respect of vehicles specified in his application."
M.A.N. EXPAND
THE West German producer of M.A.N. goods vehicles announce that they plan to increase goods vehicle production at their Munich plant from 10,000 units annually to 12.000-13,000 units.