Six-month wait on stowaways
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International hauliers face a delay of six months before a legal test case decides whether fines for unwittingly carrying stowaways are valid.
Durham-based Peter Cook Transport and one other haulier are being pursued by Treasury solicitors for nonpayment of fines imposed after immigrants were found by Customs in their trucks. Both maintain that since drivers acted in accordance with the Home Office's code of practice they should not pay the 0,000-per-stowaway fine.
According to Jana George of Nottingham solicitors Rothera Dawson, which is handling their defence, the two cases are unlikely to be heard in court before next spring. "We have outlined our defence to the Treasury's solicitors," she says. "We now expect them to ask for a summary lodgment hearing and, assuming we can persuade the court that our clients have a legitimate case, it will go to a full blown trial."
Peter Gook says he will not pay the fines as a matter of principal. The law on this matter is unfair and should be exposed as such," he says.
Cook adds that he is prepared to fight the case even though it may cost him more than the fine: "The trade associations are watching the case with interest and it will be a test of their character to see whether they are prepared to get involved financially."