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Haulier escapes prison for tachograph offences
Page 9
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• A Leicestershire haulier who pleaded guilty to fitting switches to all his vehicles' tachographs has escaped a prison sentence but has to pay £10,000 in fines and costs.
John Wallis, former managing director of Ashby Magnabased JW Contractors, had pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to three counts of falsifying tachograph records by using a switch to disable the tachograph, and to six counts of aiding and abetting three clri
vers to do the same. Wallis had the switches installed in all his vehicles to disconnect the tachographs and had instructed his drivers on how to use them (CM 4-10 December), Defending, Robert Brown said that Wallis' drivers had become fed up seeing their driving time swallowed up by queuing and they had not needed much persuading to use the switches. Wallis had been suf: fering anxiety and sleepless nights because he feared a prison sentence.
Fining Wallis £900 per offence and ordering him to pay £2,000 towards the prosecution costs, Judge Christopher Pitcher said he had been right to fear prison but he felt a substantial fine was appropriate. Wallis had been running his business in a completely dishonest way, with all his drivers driving vehicles with disconnected tachographs. It had placed other people's safety at risk.