Haulier fined E350
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A HEREFORDSHIRE haulier accused of aiding and abetting his drivers to make false tachograph records was found not guilty by Ross on Wye magistrates.
Thomas Pugh, who operates four vehicles from his 170-acre farm at Harewood End, Herefordshire, said that he was unaware that his drivers had used his name on tachographs when driving more than the legal hours.
The court heard that during a routine tachograph inspection Pugh's name appeared on the drivers' cards. When asked about it by inspector John Soffe, of the West Midland Traffic Area, he replied: "I did see it, but 1 did nothing about it" it was claimed. But John Ellery, defending, said that in law Pugh could not be found guilty of aiding and abetting because he had no prior knowledge that his name was being used by the drivers — he only saw the records after the offences had been committed.
He did, however, plead guilty to 13 charges of permitting his drivers to work excessive hours. This came about last winter when much of the county was in the grip of snow and ice. Factories producing animal feed were desperate for basic foodstuffs and he allowed his driversto work more than the prescribed eight hours in an attempt to help.
For this he was fined a total of £300 plus £50 costs to be paid off at £10 a week. One of his drivers, John Leake, of Redhill, Hereford, pleaded guilty to six charges of driving more than the prescribed hours and was fined a total of £130 to be paid off at £5 a week.