Discharge on brick drop
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• Redland Distribution was given an absolute discharge after admitting using a vehicle with an insecure load on the M25.
Grays magistrates were told that bricks were dropping from the vehicle as it was being driven along the motorway. A following vehicle was damaged. The driver of that vehicle telephoned the police, who stopped the Redland vehicle and discovered that one of the packs of bricks being carried had collapsed.
Defending, Gary Hodgson said that the vehicle was a purposebuilt brick carrier, with a crane attached for lifting the packs of bricks on and off. The driver was supplied with nets and an internal investigation revealed no defect in the netting. If the load had been properly netted, the bricks should not have come off, even if a pack had collapsed.
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l'he driver con cerned, Andrew McCutcheon, was experienced and had carried 11 such loads a week. He carried more than a million bricks a year and this was the first time there had been any problem.
Redland had achieved BS5750 and all its drivers were supplied with an instruction manual which indicated that all loads should be made secure with nets and ropes. The manual was also given to casual drivers and the company had produced operating instructions for its sub contractors.
Hodgson argued that Redland had done everything it possibly could.
It had not been negligent and was morally guiltless of what was an offence of absolute liability. The magistrates ordered the company to pay £25 towards the costs of the prosecution.
McCutcheon, in a letter to the court, said that he had taken all the necessary precautions to ensure the load was secure and the net was properly tied down at the corners. He was fined £200.