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Haulier loses appeal against imprisonment
Page 17
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• The Court of Appeal. on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by Mr. Robert Millar, of Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, against a sentence of nine months' imprisonment in connection with an accident involving one of his haulage drivers. Three Appeal Court judges ruled that Mr. Millar did, as charged, "counsel and procure" one of his drivers to cause death by dangerous driving.
In June 1968 one of his lorries suffered a burst tyre on M6 and crashed into a car, killing a family of six. When Mr. Millar was sentenced in February this year in Liverpool it was stated that the lorry had a defective front tyre.
At the appeal, Mr. Millar's counsel contended that the English court had no jurisdiction to try him, since any "counselling and procuring" must have taken place in Scotland; Lord Justice Fenton Atkinson ruled that Mr. Millar had ordered his driver to make a trip through England and was therefore responsible for the natural consequences and could be tried and sentenced by an English court.
Counsel also challenged, unsuccessfully, the contention that Mr. Millar could be held responsible for what happened when the tyre burst 200 miles away.
The court also dismissed an appeal by Robert Millar (Contractors) Ltd. against a fine of 050 and costs. Mr. Millar was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords but the judges certified that there was a point of law of public importance involved on which he could ask the Lords for leave to appeal.
Commenting on the case in court on Tuesday, Lord Justice Fenton Atkinson said that those who sent large lorries out to be driven at speed with a dangerous defect which might cause a terrible accident had to expect, when such an accident occurred, to suffer a severe penalty.