Good repute requirements are not met
Page 9
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Ron Hall International Trucking
under Regulation 5 of the Goods Vehicles (Operators Licences, Qualifications and Fees) Regulations 1984; and the requirement to be a fit person to hold an operator's licence under S64(2)(a) of the Transport Act 1968.
Ron Hall International Trucking Ltd (the company) did not respond when called to a public inquiry. Newton, the company's transport consultant for some years, did attend, however, but said he had been unable to contact the company. Newton apeared as a friend of the principal shareholder, Ron Hall, and on this basis sought an adjournment, which was refused.
The company, says the LA, had held a licence since 1979. The directors, according to Companies House records, are Ron Hall and Miss M Clark. There are 100 shares issued; Hall holds 99 and Miss Clark one. Hall also holds personally another operator's licence, trading under the name R H Transport Services; Miss Clark is the transport manager on the licence, Hall is the transport manager of R H Transport Services. Both operated from the same base, Site 45, South Quay, East India Dock, In January 1986 the company's licence was prematurely terminated because of poor maintenance.
In March 1987 Hall was convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court on four counts of forgery and one of possessing a forged document — an international freight permit. The forgery counts included forging the signature of M P Venskunas on a 0V79.
The Crown Court, sentencing Hall to be conditionally discharged for two years, said...
you gave transparently a pack of lies to the jury who were not misled and you have greatly added to the cost."
The LA explains Hall's connection with the Venskunas licence. M J and P C Venskunas, brothers, were originally granted a licence in 1974. It appeared the partnership soon broke up, and then in 1979 M j Venskunas decided to give up the haulage business. M J Venskunas stated that Ron Hall in effect took over the licence.
In July 1987 the company was called to a public inquiry following the conviction at Snaresbrook Crown Court; at the time it was believed that the conviction had been incurred by the company, not Hall personally, At this inquiry Hall gave evidence that he had put money into the Venskunas business; it was run jointly, although M J Venskunas was a sleeping partner. Hall agreed he had signed as M J Venskunas when submitting the GV79, but had done so with M J Venskunas's permission. Hall stated that his company had been banned in 1976 from holding international freight permits and that this was the reason he bought into the Venskunas business.
Hall had acknowledged the judge's comments and said he did not know why they had been made. He stressed that he was unaware that what he had been doing was wrong and it would have been easy to get formal authority to sign for M J Venskunas, He also declared the business was not involved in this matter and Miss Clark was unaware of the Venskunas affair, The International Road Freight Office, says the LA, has reported that Ron Hall International Trucking Ltd (the company) was banned in 1978 for an indefinite period from holding international permits. There was, however, no ban on R H Transport Services or M J and P C Venskunas.
The LA says he has examined the specification of four vehicles which have been or are on the Venskunas licence. Vehicles were moved freely between the Venskunas, R H Transport Services and the company's licences.
Police reports on file indicate that the vehicles specified on the Venskunas licence have been operating since Hall claimed that the business had been frozen. Miss Clark had applied for international permits under the Venskunas licence by authority of M J Venslcunas Miss Clarks involvement again indicates that the three businesses were effectively run as one concern, says the LA.
The LA finds that the company chose not to respond or attend the inquiry. Hall holds a controlling interest in the company, and his conviction at Snaresbrook Crown Court is pertinent to the company's repute and may be aggregated with previous convictions of the company which resulted in the premature termination of its licence.
Schedule 6 of the Goods Vehicles (Operator' Licences, Qualifications and Fees) Regulations 1984 requires the LA to have regard to all material evidence and such other information as he may have to the previous conduct of the directors, says the LA. Hall had had effective control of the Venskunas licence since about the end of 1979; the purpose was to acquire improperly permits and this was achieved by means of forgery.
Hall has specified improperly vehicles on the licence he controlled in breach of Regulation 30, says the LA. The company was banned in 1978 from obtaining international permits, "I cannot be satisfied that the company or its directors meet the requirements of good repute," It is inconceivable, says the LA, that Hall was unaware of the law, regulations and licence conditions. The evidence, he says, shows that the affairs of the Venskunas partnership, R H Transport Services and the company were closely and deliberately intertwined. 'They were not run as separate entities and I find it incredible that Miss Clark could not have known what was going on."
The LA says that he can only conclude that the absence of Hall and Miss Clark from the inquiry demonstrates an unwillingness to face an investigation of their affairs.