lo prosecution
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ick Semple
JON POLICE have de:c1 against prosecuting of the companies coned with a fatal accident ch was caused by an unified agency driver losing :rol of a laden 16-tonner 1, June 15).
he police considered .ecuting under Section 84 3e Road Traffic Act 1972, dropped the case on the cc of a prosecuting solici They have refused to : any further reason for r decision.
!-ction 84 makes it an abtc offence to "cause or nit" someone to drive a [cle for which he has no ing licence.
he decision not to prose: has left relatives of the victims of the accident nayed, and certainly the s of the case appear to cry out for explanation.
Paul Carter was sent by agency Plan Personnel to food distributor Winterbotham Darby as a relief driver. He drove a Mercedes-Benz 16tonner from Croydon to Devon with a load of tinned food, but he did not have an hgv driver's licence.
The accident happened when Mr Carter tried to drive down a one in five gradient in fourth gear, and ran off the road. No other vehicles were involved.
Without a police prosecution, there will be a suspicion that Mr Carter was solely responsible for the accident. This is not, however, the only conclusion which can be reached about the police decision.
It is possible that the presecuting solicitor thought that the case was not watertight. Devon police probably has a budget for prosecutions, and may not have considered the costs involved in bringing the case could be justified, particularly with no certainty of success.
The fact that nonc of the parties to the accident came from Devon may also have influenced the decision.
Relatives of both victims of the crash are likely to bring civil proceedings against at least one of the companies connected with the case. The police will almost certainly be called to give evidence if a civil action is brought.
Croydon MP John Moore has raised the matter with the Department of Transport, and has told relatives of one of the victims of the crash that if the police do not prosecute: "I would like myself to pursue it as certainly on the information I have at present it would seem there is clear evidence of a law having been broken."