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DTC demands 'full story' of family insolvency breaches
Page 16
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A public inquiry into a Liverpool firm has been adjourned while the DTC investigates its directors' complex dealings. Mike Jewell reports.
NORTH-WESTERN DTC Mark Hinchliffe has ordered a probe into the business affairs of a Liverpool haulage family that appeared before him at a public inquiry.
Hinchliffe said he was adjourning the inquiry into Crown Cold Stores & Distribution pending an investigation of the demise of several firms linked to Crown's directors, the Thorburn family.
The Liverpool-based company had been called before the DTC at a public inquiry in Colborne, Greater Manchester because of concerns over vehicle mainte nance and hours and tachograph offences. including the falsification of tachograph records. The company said these problems have now been dealt with and a new maintenance regime is in place.
The DTC was also considering the repute of transport manager Wallace Thorn burn.
One director of Crown Cold Stores & Distribution, Karen Thornburn-Jones, was also a director of Crown Cold Stores Ltd -a company which is currently in administration.
The DTC said newspaper cuttings appeared to show that Thornburn International Transport had gone into liquidation in March l99 with debts of about £240,000: that Crown Cold Stores Ltd had traded in the name of Thornbum International in breach of the insolvency rules; and that Wallace Thornbum and his daughter Jeanette were both disqualified from being company directors for four years in October 2000.
Wallace Thomburn resigned as a director of Crown Cold Stores in November 2000.
When Crown Cold Stores appeared at a public inquiry into its drivers' hours record three weeks later. the DTC was not told any of this and Wallace Thornburn was presented to him as a director.
There was a further public inquiry in March 2003 before DTC Patrick Mulvenna, again because of drivers' hours problems. Mulvenna was told that Crown Cold Stores had gone into administration seven months previously.
He accepted the surrender of the Crown Cold Stores' licence and granted licences to Crown Cold Stores & Distribution and to Karen Thornburn-Jones and Philip Kamal, trading as P&K Transport.
The latter licence was never taken up and P& K Transport Ltd, of which Karen Thomburn-Jones and Kamal were directors, applied for a licence. That company was the subject of a compulsory liquidation and a new company, PK Transport (UK) Ltd. was set up with Kamal as the sole director.
It seemed that DTC Mulvenna was also not told of the disqualification of Wallace Thorribum, who presented himself to the DTC as managing director.
"This is a serious issue." said the DTC. "I must have the full story and the true facts.
After the company's solicitor, Graham Quigley, had said that they could not give an account to the DTC that day. the public inquiry was adjourned until a date lobe fixed. •