48-hour suspension for false tacho record
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A NEWHAVEN-based haulier convicted of making a false tachograph record has had his O-licence suspended for 48 hours and been ordered to complete the drivers’ hours and tachograph module of the Driver CPC qualification within two months.
At an October public inquiry (PI) in Eastbourne, Nick Denton (pictured), the traffic commissioner (TC) for London and the South East, looked at a Vosa investigation that had resulted in owner-driver Neil Penfold being prosecuted at North Essex Magistrates’ Court in June.
Penfold, authorised to operate three vehicles, was convicted for offences of failing to enter details on a tachograph record sheet, knowingly making a false record and taking insufficient rest within a 24-hour period. He was fined £1,250. He also failed to disclose the offences to the TC’s office.
At the PI, TC Denton measured the convictions against the operator’s previous good record and concluded there had been no commercial gain from the offences. However, the “seriousness of the offence of making a false record” had to be considered. He suspended Penfold’s licence for two days from 27 October, and ordered him to undertake the Driver CPC qualification before the end of the year.
Damaged repute
Denton told Penfold, who is the named transport manager, that his repute had been damaged by the incident and might not survive if it reoccurred in the future.