Victory with costs for ATS
Page 18
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• Barnsley magistrates have directed that the defence costs of ATS Tyres must be paid out of public funds, after an overloading charge against one of its vehicles was dismissed.
Magistrates heard that a 7.5tonne vehicle belonging to ATS was involved in an accident in Doncaster Road, Barnsley. A police officer who attended the scene thought that the vehicle looked overweight. He escorted it to a weighbridge and when weighed it was found to exceed the permitted gross weight by 18.8%.
Defending, Peter Scholey argued that there was no evidence to prove that the company knew that the vehicle was overloaded. To be guilty of permitting an offence, there had to be knowledge on the part of someone who could be regarded as the "brains" of the company, he said.
The driver, Geoffrey Harrison, admitted using the vehicle when the permitted gross weight was exceeded. He was fined £100 and ordered to pay £66 prosecution costs.