Gilder's licence saved after ostrich abuse
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Gloucestershire livestock haulier Edward Gilder, who trades as Graham Gilder has been cleared by Western Traffic Commissioner Philip Brawn despite convictions for transporting ostriches in a manner likely to cause Injury.
The TO ruled that Gilder had not lost his good repute and took no action against his licence. But he warned that any further convictions could well lead to its loss.
Cheltenham-based Glider had been convicted by Birmingham magistrates after two of more than 20 ostriches being transported from the Ostrich Business Centre In Windsor to a slaughterhouse in Shropshire were injured. The vehicle carrying the ostriches was stopped in a routine check on the M6 and a gate on a pen inside the trailer was discovered to have a sharp edge which, the magistrates decided, could cause injury to the birds.
For Gilder, Geoffrey Jones said the trailer was separated into pens where the ostriches were kept during the journey. The gate in question would have been used at least four times during the journey, but no sharp edge had been noticed by the driver.
Driver Adrian Shaw was an experienced livestock driver who had handled ostriches in his previous job. If there had been something wrong with the gate, Shaw should have reported it.
Dealing with a previous conviction in 1996 for falling to provide adequate rest periods when transporting cattle, Jones said it had arisen out of a journey from Ireland to the Continent using a new type of "super trailer", which meant the animals could be fed and watered en route. Unfortunately, the journey in question was made shortly before such trailers were permitted in this country, although legal in Ireland.
• This case has no connection with livestock haulier Edward Gilder of Bourton-on-the-Water (CM11-17 May).