Discharged on insecure load
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• A Lancashire haulier and one of his drivers were given absolute discharges for using a vehicle with an insecure load after Derby magistrates accepted that they were not to blame.
Frederick Entwistle of Pressall, near Fleetwood, trading as Entwistle Haulage, and driver Terence Ronson pleaded guilty to the offence.
The court heard that a truck driven by Ronson had shed eight pallets of building blocks from the front nearside when it braked behind a car at a roundabout. The load had been secured with netting, ropes, straps and tensioners. The netting and the ropes securing the pallets concerned had torn and snapped. Ronson said that he had secured the load in Wiltshire in the same manner as he had in the 10 years he had been doing the iob. The customer checked that each load was secured properly before the vehicle was allowed to leave the premises. He had then driven to the M4 along winding roads with a number of roundabouts before stopping for the night at the Michaelwood Service Area on the MS.
The following morning he had checked the security of the load before setting off and driving along the MS and M42 to the scene of the accident.
Defending, John Backhouse argued that Ronson had neither been culpable or negligent.
As far as Entwistle was concerned, it could not be said that he
was to blame, or had been negligent in any way, said Backhouse. He had supplied new ropes, netting and straps, and had never seen the load concerned.
Pointing out that the High Court had laid down that if defendants were morally blameless, and had not been negligent, an absolute discharge was appropriate in cases such as this, Backhouse produced various cuttings from Commercial Motor with reports of cases where this precedent principle had been followed by the courts.
Ronson had secured the load in the same manner as he had in the 10 years he had been doing the job.
Backhouse: Entwistle didn't see load.