Bribes Alleged : Four for Trial
Page 51
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Pappeared before the Birmingham REE directors of haulage.companies
Stipendary Magistrate last week on charges arising out of the alleged corrupt payment of money gifts to a transport manager, William Gee, of Constructors, Ltd., Birmingham, in return for giving contracts to certain road haulage firms. Gee faced charges for corruptly accepting and attempting to obtain gifts.
The directors were Alfred Betts and Ernest Clarke, of Clarke and Co. (Sutton Coldfield), Ltd., and Douglas Mucklow, of S. Linney and Son, Baker Street, Sparkhill, Birmingham. All the defendants were committed for trial to the next Birmingham Assizes.
Mr. M. J. Jardin, prosecuting, said Gee (who had been a transport manager for 18 years) had been solely responsible for giving contracts to the lowest satisfactory tender.
In May, Mr. Howard Rowan, another haulage contractor, when visiting Constructors, Ltd., found that one of his lorries had not been loaded. He complained to. Gee who told him: "I usually get commission off contractors."
Later Gee told detectives that he did not receive money from all the companies he dealt with. Betts said that payments of £40 and £50 were a commission to Gee. Clarke said that he had authorized payments because they had not been able to entertain Mr. Gee, as was their normal practice, because he was a diabetic.
Betts, Clarke, Mucklow and Gee pleaded not guilty and reserved their defence.
BIRMINGHAM MOTORWAY: NEW TENDERS
THE Minister of Transport has
authorized Lan ca shire County Council to re-invite tenders for the construction of the 26-mile length of the Birmingham-Preston motorway, between Preston and Warrington. It is hoped to start construction early in 1961. Earlier this year, the Minister asked for a review to be carried out of the contract documents, because he felt the average cost per mile in the lowest tenders proved higher than for sections of motorway elsewhere.
CIE. AREA MANAGERS
FIVE area managers have been appointed by Coras Iompair Eireann, southern Ireland state-owned transport undertaking. Each manager, C.I.E. annoynced this week, will possess a large measure of autonomy in his own area. The five area managers are to be: Mr. Conor Cunel (Dublin), Mr. Liam Dunne (Cork), Mr. John F. Higgins (Limerick), Mr, Patrick Murphy (Galway) and Mr. William O'Neill (Waterford).
PRODUCTION ENGINEERS MEET
THE national conference of the Institution of Production Engineers was held in Brighton on Wednesday, the theme being "Modern Trends in the Manipuk:on of Metals."