Tacho fraudster gets six months in prison
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By Roger Brown A TRUCK driver from Scotland, who was discovered to have made 69 false tachograph charts, has been sent to prison for six months.
Carlisle Crown Court was told how George Davidson, 57, from Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, was stopped by Vosa officers at the goods vehicle testing station in Carlisle as he was returning home from a trip to Holland and Germany in June 2012.
An investigation by Vosa and Cumbria Police revealed he had used a pulse divider to interrupt the tachograph system.
There was an impulse generator taped to a relay, wired into the tachograph loom above the nearside glove box, and the switching was discovered to have been via a looped jack plug in the 24v socket in the passenger side of the dash. A road test by police confirmed that the dash speedometer and speed limiter did not function but the vehicle could be driven and record rest.
Davidson pleaded guilty to the offences at Carlisle Magistrates' Court on 4 December 2012 and was sent to Carlisle Crown Court for sentencing. He was also ordered to pay £400 costs.
Sergeant Graeme Hodgson from the road policing unit at Cumbria Police said: "There is no knowing exactly what method was used to produce the false charts, but we found a device and we know the tachographs produced did not show the full extent of driving.
"There may be short-term gains from falsification, but the penalties imposed on those convicted are starting to be a real deterrent," he added. "We need to ensure that the roads are safe and that there's a level playing field for all hauliers."