Tad° fine reduced on appeal
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• A Liverpool haulier's £500 fine for using a temporary tachograph head has been cut to £200 on appeal to Bolton Crown Court.
William Sharpies, managing director of WS Transport, of Litheriand, had pleaded guilty before Leigh magistrates to using a vehicle when the tachograph was not installed in accordance with the regulations.
For the prosecution. Darren Preston said that the tachograph charts produced by the driver of a Volvo artic stopped on the East Lancashire Road showed no speed or distance record for two days. An examination of the tachograph head showed it had been calibrated for a different vehicle. The seal on the back had been removed and a number of wires were detached.
For Sharpies, John Backhouse said that the tachograph on the vehicle concerned had developed a fault, The vehicle was sent in to Lucas, which removed the tacho head but could not immediately identify the fault Lucas was unable to say how long it would take to repair the tacho head.
However, to provide the driver with a speedometer, Sharpies decided to fit another tacho head which would also record his hours and rest periods. By putting another head in, Sharpies had kept all the records he could but had technically fallen foul of the law The judge, Recorder Philip Catton, said the offence was somewhat more than technical. After 25 years in the trade Sharpies ought to have realised that his actions were unacceptable in law However, he did feel that the fine was on the high side.