Getting tougher over tachograph offences
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• by Mike Jewell and Karen Miles Two brothers who ran a North Wales tipper firm escaped a jail sentence by a whisker" at Mold Crown Court after they pleaded guilty to falsifying tachograph charts.
Clive and Keith Griffiths traded as Leslie Griffiths & Partners, of Pentre Halkyn.
Sentencing them to 240 hours' community services, Judge Derek Halbert warned that hauliers and drivers who falsified tachograph records out of
greed could expect immediate prison sentences. But
in this case he was satisfied the offences had been committed out of desperation rather than greed.
Clive Griffiths had pleaded guilty to 25 offences of falsifying tachograph records and one of making a false declaration in order to obtain an excise licence. Keith Griffiths had pleaded guilty to 23 offences of falsification.
Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, Jenny Caldwell said that both men had falsified their records to show breaks when the vehicles were in motion, enabling them to drive throughout the day without proper breaks.
The remains of a tachograph interrupter device had been found in Clive Griffiths' vehicle. Fle had admitted fitting and using the device, saying that there was no money in haulage and he had just been trying to make a living.
Keith Griffiths' tachograph offences were less sophisticated: he had simply taken a fuse out to record rest when he was driving. He had said that it had been done to keep going and earn some money. He only took £150 a week out of the business and he had a wife and children to keep.
When taxing his vehicle in March 1998 Clive Griffiths had falsely declared that it had not been used since the end of the previous year.
Defending, John Philpott said that neither man had been motivated by greed but by a desire to make a success of their business and reduce their mounting debts. The business had not been profitable and it had been a constant worry to them. They were two hard working young men who had been trying to earn a living.
• Fullers Transport has been fined £37,200 for permitting drivers to break the hours rules; see industry news, page 6.