Insecure charges dropped by court
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• Wakefield magistrates have thrown out charges alleging that Thomas Harper, a partner in Selby-based Aldred 81 Harper Transport, and one of the firm's drivers, James Kilmartin, used a vehicle when the load was not secured safely.
The court was told that on 11 December police officers attended an accident on the M62 motorway. Part of a vehicle's load had blown off and had collided with a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. The carriageway was strewn with pieces of wood. The driver, who had been unaware of the accident, returned to the scene after being flagged down by a passing motorist.
The vehicle had been loaded with a portable classroom, the roof of which had blown off. The classroom had been secured with strapping at its base.
A police officer gave evidence that the base of the classroom had still been securely strapped to the vehicle.
In defence, Gary Hodgson argued that the defect had clearly been in the structure of the building and not in the way that the load had been secured. The likelihood of danger because of the way it had been secured was just not there. If there had been any such likelihood, it was to do with the packing and distribution of the load rather than its security.