Merseyside haulier 'unfit' for licence
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• North Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Mark Hinchliffe is considering disqualifying Bootle, Merseyside-based Gary Johnson from holding a licence for three years, after describing him as a menace on the road and a risk to the public.
Johnson, who traded as Whitehaul with a licence authorising the operation of two vehicles, failed to appear at a St Helens disciplinary inquiry. He had been called before the Deputy Commissioner because of concern over his maintenance record, convictions and the use of an unauthorised operating centre.
Hinchliffe said that Johnson had been taken into custody in July for a suspected offence of driving while disqualified. The vehicle examiner had reported that he had imposed immediate prohibitions on both vehicle and trailer after being called to the scene by police. The tractor unit was not taxed and the semitrailer, which did not have a current annual test certificate, turned out to be stolen.
Revoking the licence with immediate effect, Hinchliffe said that the use of an unauthorised operating centre alone would justify revocation. The schedule of six immediate and four delayed prohibitions was a complete disgrace for a twovehicle operator, and he regarded Johnson as a menace on the road and a risk to the public.
In applying for a licence, Johnson had disclosed two drink driving convictions but not a conviction for driving without due care and attention, said Hinchliffe. Johnson was driving a vehicle himself but had never held an WV driving entitlement and had been disqualified from driving for 12 months in November 1996.
Johnson had abandoned the maintenance arrangements he had said he would stick to and in fact had abandoned any regular maintenance regime, said the Deputy Commissioner.
There had also been vehicle excise duty in-egularities and Johnson still owed the MLA over £800. He was not fit to hold an operator's licence.
Hinchliffe gave Johnson 21 days in which to make representations against the proposed disqualification order.