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French driver held for two days for failing to take 45-minute break
Page 33
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A FRENCH DRIVER arrested by Welsh police for drivers' hours offences was kept behind bars for two days before being given a conditional discharge and released from court a long way from his rig.
Olivier Martin from Farschwiller was driving to Liverpool for a German operator when he was stopped at Erwood in Mid-Wales, not far from the English border at Herefordshire.
He was released from court in Ystradgynlais,only a few miles from Swansea, and with no transport to take him back.
Police had been in touch with his employers who had offered to wire any money needed for fines, Ystradgynlais magistrates were told.
The magistrates gave Martin a conditional discharge for 12 months after he pleaded guilty to driving without the required 45 minutes break after 4.5 hours and taking insufficient daily rest.The court decided he need not pay costs because of the time he had spent in custody.
"He has been in custody today and yesterday which is the equivalent of a four-day prison sentence," said defence solicitor Gavin Rofer.
For the prosecution, Beth Thomas said that police had stopped Martin when he was seen wobbling back and forth across the road in his 40-tonne Renault artic.
Rofer said Martin had been under pressure from his employers to meet a tight schedule, but he had realised he was becoming a menace to himself and other road users because he was so tired and had already decided to pull over before he was stopped.