First of Transfreight drivers fined
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The first of the Transfreight Services drivers to face prosecution for the falsification of tachograph records has been fined £400 and ordered to pay £100 prosecution costs.
Karl Puree" pleaded guilty to seven offences of falsification before Liverpool Stipendiary Magistrate Stephen Ward.
Ward fined Purcell £400 on the first offence, with no separate penalty on the remainder, saying that he had been driving large mileages and that had raised road safety issues. But he took into account employer pressure and the fact that Purcell had subsequently lost his job and had debts. Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, Stephen Rodgers said that from an analysis of the records produced by Transfreight it was obvious that Purcell had been interrupting the signals to his tachograph. Purcell had failed to record up to 375km on journeys he had undertaken.
For Purcell, Darren Nolan said that he had been aware of Ins obligations as a driver but had been put under pressure as a result of greed on the part of Transfreight. He had had no great financial reward, and had lost his HGV licence and consequently his livelihood.
Purcell had been disqualified from holding an HGV driving licence for 12 months.