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Hirer should make sure of 0 licence, submits prosecution
Page 47
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• A company which hired out a vehicle to be used in the course of the company's own business, to a contracted operator, should make the fullest possible inquiries to ensure that the operator held all the necessary licences. If the company failed to do this, and the operator was later found not to he in possession of an 0 licence, the company itself had aided and abetted the operator in the offence. This was stated by Mr N. S. C. Patterson, prosecuting on behalf of the Yorkshire LA at York magistrates' court last week, when United Retaining Services Ltd, of Hounslow, pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting Mr Robert P. Cordingley, of Woodhouse Avenue, Keighley, to operate a vehicle without an 0 licence.
Earlier Mr Cordingley had been fined £5 after pleading not guilty to the offence. At this hearing it was stated that some time ago Mr Cordingley entered into a contract with URS Ltd to hire a vehicle, which did not require an 0 licence, and used this for the collection of waste paper and cardboard throughout an area allocated by URS Ltd.
On May 8 last year Mr Cordingley entered into a second agreement with URS Ltd, the only difference being that this was to hire a vehicle in excess of 30cwt unladen at a rate of £10 per week. On entering into the agreement he also signed a contract in which he stated that he was the holder of an 0 licence, although URS Ltd did not ask to see or inspect this.
On June 16 of that year, following a spot-check by a DoE vehicle examiner, it was discovered that Mr Cordingley did not hold an 0 licence, and was discovered to be still operating the vehicle on June 30.
At this stage Mr Cordingley asked the magistrate if it would be better to change his plea to guilty but this was refused and he was subsequently fined £5.
On the aiding and abetting offence at the later hearing, Mr Patterson suggested that URS Ltd had not taken a thorough step to ascertain whether Mr Cordingley was the holder of an 0 licence and added that on the. introduction of the 0 licensing system URS Ltd had in fact given instructions on how to obtain an 0 licence and made certain that all operators hiring vehicles at that time obtained them.
For URS Ltd, Mr John Grovehull, told magistrates that URS Ltd had taken steps to ensure that operators were holders of 0 licences by means of the contract and referred to precedents resulting from several previous cases of a similar nature.
After hearing the evidence the magistrate gave URS Ltd an absolute discharge.