'Don't know' defence does not apply to tack' check
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John and Gregory Pain were each fined 1100 with 1100 costs for using a vehicle when the tachograph had not had its two-yearly calibration chock.
The two men, who trade as GP Produce, of Crornford, Derbys, initially denied the offence, but pleaded guilty after Matlock magistrates ruled that the statutory defence that they neither knew nor ought to have known of the offence was not available to them.
Defending, David Tomlinson argued that knowledge was an essential ingredient of the offence and the defendants were entitled to the statutory defence contained in the regulations. The defendants had entrusted such matters to an independent garage which handled all their servicing. They had not shut their eyes to it as they had believed someone was dealing with it—and they had not deliberately refrained from making enquiries, but they had no reason to believe they needed to do so.
Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, John Heaton said the twoyear tachograph chant was something like an MoT test. If the tachograph had not been checked in the past two years there might be doubt repair of tachographs, he about its accuracy. added, pointing out that the The statutory defence was mandatory inspections were restricted to the installation or neither installation nor repair.