W&G Taylor cleared of defective brake charge
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• Skipton haulier W&G Taylor, and one of the company's drivers, are to have their defence costs paid out of public funds after being cleared of using a vehicle with defective brakes.
Trafford, Greater Manchester magistrates ruled that the printout from a roller brake tester at the Bredbury Test Station was inadmissible evidence.
The company and driver Alan Barrett had denied using a vehicle when every part of the braking system was not maintained in good and efficient working order and was properly adjusted.
The prosecution withdrew the charge against the company but continued with the proceedings against Barrett.
Department of Transport vehicle examiner Simon McCalla said that a vehicle driven by Barrett had been stopped by police and taken to the Bredbury Test Station. He carried out a visual examination of the vehicle and noticed the brake adjustment seemed to be excessive. The vehicle's brakes were then checked on the rolling road brake tester.
Questioned by Gary Hodgson, defending, McCalla agreed that the print-out from the machine was produced by computer. He said that although calibration checks were carried out on the rolling road he had not brought the results of those checks to court.
He accepted that the machine did not give any indication of whether it was working correctly.
Ruling that the print-out was inadmissible in evidence, the magistrates said they were not satisfied that the vehicle examiner could give the appropriate certificate of accuracy under Section 69 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.
Questioned further, McCalla said that he had not actually measured the alleged excessive travel in the brake actuators. The magistrates accepted arguments from Hodgson that the defence had no case to answer.