Ex-Hines driver disqualified
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• Kenneth Dovestone, 35, of Kingstanding, Birmingham, the lorry driver whose redundancy at D. E. Hines (Transport), Streetly, Staffs, led to a strike and to the firm's closure, appeared on bail before a magistrates' court at Newport Pagnell, Bucks, on Wednesday.
Pleading not guilty to three motoring charges, he told the court that he had driven along M1 after taking a sleeping pill.
The charges followed an accident on the southbound carriageway of Mt at Hanslope at 3.15 a.m. on March 25.
Dovestone was found guilty and was disqualified from driving for six months. He was fined £15 for driving without due care and attention and his licence was endorsed. He was fined £10 and his licence was also endorsed for failing to report an accident; he was fined £2 for failing to produce a certificate of insurance and was ordered to pay costs of £14 18s 2d.
Chief Inspector C. Williams, prosecuting for the police, told the court that the lorry driven by Dovestone crashed into two vehicles parked on the hard shoulder of MI. One of the parked vehicles was showing a flashing yellow beacon, indicating that repairs were being carried out.
In court Dovestone explained that he had suffered from asthma for some years and had spent some time in hospital in June 1968. When he was discharged from hospital he remained under medical care and continued to take various drugs. He did not know until after the accident that one of the drugs he had taken before starting on the journey that night contained phenobarbitone. He was later told that this acted as a sleeping drug.
He also explained that the manifold gasket was leaking, which caused fumes to enter the cab. He had no recollection at all of the accident. The first he knew was when a cold draught of air entered the cab. He stopped, went to the rear of his vehicle and saw that it had extensive damage. He knew that he had hit something but did not know what. Dovestone added that he thought he might have hit a crash barrier.
The defendant also told the court that he had driven on to a service station and looked for a policeman to report the accident.