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As an owner-driver I applied for an Operator's Licence but

13th January 1994
Page 39
Page 39, 13th January 1994 — As an owner-driver I applied for an Operator's Licence but
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

before it was granted I was stopped by police while driving my 30tonne tipper. The vehicle was empty at the time but I have received a summons for using the vehicle without an 0licence.

Do I have to hold a licence for an empty vehicle?

Transport Act 1968 states that no person shall use a goods vehicle on a road for the carriage of goods (a) for hire or reward or (b) for or in connection with any trade or business carried on by him except under an 0-licence.

The prosecution have to prove all the elements of the offence to secure a conviction and it can be seen that one of the elements is that the vehicle was being used 'for the carriage of goods'.

The burden of proving that is on the prosecutiorc Police evidence of seeing the tipper without an 0licence would not be sufficient to prove the offence because the vehicle was not at that time being used for the carriage of goods.

In support of that view is the I ligh Court case of Robertson vs Crew "1977" RTR 141 in which the defendant had been charged with using a vehicle without an operator's licence, failing to keep records and not paying enough road tax.

The `0' licence summons did not refer to the carriage of goods and defence counsel submitted that the charge was defective because it did not state the vehicle had been currying goods. The Lord Chief Justice said "I think that he is probably right— that an offence under Section 60 of the Transport Act 1968 does require that the vehicle should be carrying goods at the relevant time". While the High Court sent the case back to the magistrates to convict on the two other offences it did not direct that the defendant be convicted on the 0-licence charge.

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Organisations: High Court

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