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Mahre driver fined for tacho offences

5th April 2007, Page 34
5th April 2007
Page 34
Page 34, 5th April 2007 — Mahre driver fined for tacho offences
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LANCASHIRE TRUCK driver has been rdered to pay £1 ,450 in fines and costs for falsifying tchograph records.

James Knight, of Chequer Lane, Upholland, mployecl by H Greaves & Sons (Meat Products), leaded guilty to 12 offences of falsification when he ppeared before Leyland magistrates.

Prosecuting for Vosa, John Heaton said Knight's .5-tonne refrigerated vehicle was stopped in a check [Quinton in the West Midlands in September. Knight roduced 17 tachograph charts and on four of them ie mileage recorded was greater than that recorded by the distance trace, which suggested periods of driving without the chart inserted.

Traffic examiner Peter Illsley subsequently visited the company's Skelmersdale premises and obtained 70 tachograph charts. Analysis of these revealed further offences. The unrecorded distances varied between 20km and 92km, and there were occasions when the daily driving limit had been exceeded and insufficient daily rest taken.

Mark Rigby, defending, said Knight was not an LGV licence holder and any knowledge he had about tachographs had been picked up as he went along. He had shown a "considerable degree of naivety".At one stage he was given a booklet about drivers' hours by his employers but it was dramatically out of date.

The company itself had been naive in not carrying out a proper analysis of the tachograph records. The previous transport manager loaded die vehicle and scheduled the runs, and if Knight complained that they were not feasible he was ignored. That person had since retired and the son of the family owning the business was now the transport manager. He had a different attitude and the tachograph records were now analysed.

Knight now kept a separate record of his driving time so he didn't have to open the tachograph head.

Magistrates fined Knight 1100 per offence with £250 costs.


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