Jailed haulier tries to appeal
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STAFFORDSHIRE HAULIER Philip Leo Taylor is to appeal against his three-year jail sentence imposed by Stoke-On-Trent Crown Court He is claiming that his case should have been treated in two separate parts one for the dishonest handling of excise licences and the other for the dishonest handling of tractive units and trailers.
Mr Taylor, trading as Taylor's Transport of Litchfield, was found guilty of handling stolen articulated tractive units and stolen excise licences at Stoke-onTrent Crown Court.
He was convicted of dishonestly handling nine excise licences and four tractive units, three Volvos and a Scania valued at£79,500. Mr Taylor was found not guilty of dishonestly handling a 4011 tilt trailer knowing that it was stolen.
The prosecution had claimed that Mr Taylor of Haddon House, Shenstone, had resorted to dishonesty possibly because busi ness became poor. He had received the stolen excise licences to save himself the cost of licensing Foden tippers at a cost of £774 per vehicle.
He was said to have paid around £2,000 a piece for the tractive units. Mr Taylor denied knowing that the vehicles were stolen, claiming that he understood they were hire-purchased repossessed vehicles and he denied all knowledge of the excise licences. He also alleged that he had been threatened with physical violence by the police if he did not confess (CM, September 24 and October 11).
In mitigation, Brian Higgs, defending, said that Mr Taylor was a man of previous good character, a man who was sick and was running a business employing spme 40 people.
Passing sentence, Judge Kenneth Taylor said he entirely agreed with the verdict of the jury which was based on overwhelming evidence. Mr Taylor had involved himself in large scale crime. He had handled four vehicles worth many thousands of pounds. It was a serious crime on a serious scale.
Judge Taylor refused an application for bail pending an appeal on a point of law.