SODIT boss plans a High Court appeal
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• The director of an Exeter-based haulage firm who lost an appeal against the revocation of its Operator's Licence plans to take the matter to the High Court in person.
David Ware, director of Sumo Overland Direct International Transport, or SODIT for short, says he intends to take the case to the High Court and "then to Europe if I have to in a bid to getjustice".
SODIT's short career has been littered with disappointment. The company was granted an 0-licence in September 2000 on the understanding that former director Thomas Carstairs' wife Linda would play no part in its operation.
However, that licence was revoked in December after it emerged that the then transport manager, Andrew Williams, had failed to divulge an 18 month jail term for VAT fraud.
The company appealed to the Transport Tribunal in February but was told last week that it had been unsuccessful and the revocation would stand (CM1218 April),
Ware claims the fact that the company was not given any time to replace Williams as transport manager was unfair and that the licence should be reinstated: "The original failure to disclose the jail sentence was an error caused by the wording on the forms which is, at best, ambiguous," he adds. "However, that's in the past and I will be appealing on the basis that we were not given time to replace Williams with someone acceptable to the Traffic Commissioner."
Ware claims that he is now in the process of sending off the necessary paperwork to the High Court.