Robinson cleared on Irish trailer defects
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• Fenton magistrates have decided that Lancashire haulier J A Robinson and his driver James Heys were not to blame for defects on a trailer brought in from Dublin, and have given them absolute discharges for the offences of using the trailer with dangerous parts and a defective parking brake.
The two men admitted the offences after the prosecution accepted that a defective tyre could have been caused by the trailer wheels wobbling. The court was told that the police stopped an articulated tanker driven by Heys when they noticed the rear nearside wheels of the tank trailer wobbling.
An examination revealed that five wheel studs had sheared. The remaining studs were very loose and the wheels were in imminent danger of coming off. The cable of the trailer's parking brake was also found to be broken. Heys said it had been his first day working for Robinson and he had been instructed to go to Fleetwood to collect the trailer, which had been shipped from Dublin. He was then to take the empty trailer to Nottingham where it was to be loaded before returning it to Fleetwood. He picked the trailer up at about half-past seven on a December evening.
After coupling up he checked the tyres and was satisfied that they were sound. The wheel studs appeared to be tight and the parking brake was off. He did not check it as he would not require to use it: it was on the return journey that he was stopped by the police.
John Backhouse, defending said that Robinson had never seen the trailer. Neither he nor Heys were aware of the defects and it was likely that the wheel studs had sheared shortly before the vehicle was stopped by the police. Giving both men absolute discharges, and refusing a prosecution application for costs, the magistrates expressed concern that trailers could come in from Ireland and proceed on the road without a full maintenance check — particularly as in this case the trailer had been carrying a hazardous load.
They felt that in the light of Heys' experience, in future drivers would be wise to check wheels and tyres whenever they stopped.