Bristol Men Sent for Trial on Tyres Conspiracy Charges
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riGHT Bristol men, all of them
engaged in the motor trade, were committed for trial at the next Assizes, which open at Bristol, November 14, accused of conspiracy and false pretences in regard to applications for credits which they claimed from the Tyre Manufacturers Conference, Ltd„ in respect of tyres which they alleged to be defective.
During the four-day hearing it was stated by the defence that the practice was widespread throughout the country. The start of the case was reported in The Commercial Motor last week.
The Defendants The defendants are: William Henry Creed (67), Charlton Avenue, Filton, Bristol, and Morton Charles Cullimore (60), of Amberwood, London Road, Stroud, both directors of Luxton's Tyre Service Ltd., Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol; Clifford John Guy (31), Blagrove Close, the firm's manager; John Huggins (42), St. Lucia Crescent, and Ian Keith Marshall (27), Hengrove Lane, Bristol, both trading as Tyre Services (Bristol); John Grant, (30) Costiland Drive, Hartcliffe. Raymond Ronald Holcombe (26), Hersey Gardens, Withywood, and George Malcom Campbell Robertson (46), all of Bristol.
Robertson was said to be trading on his own account as a tyre dealer and Grant and Holcombe were formerly employed by .him. Cullimore is a director of several companies including that of Morton C. Cullimore Gravels, Ltd., Stroud, Gloucestershire, as well as that of a mixed concrete company. He also .carries on farinine.
linught As Scrap For the Director of Public Prosecutions Mr. Frederick I3eezley said that in some cases tyres bought as scrap were returned to the T.M.C. as manufacturers' defects and cash concessions claimed.
Answering Mr. Field-Fisher, defending, Det. Sgt. Frederick Cross agreed that the practice of filling-in application forms in the fashion which had given rise to this prosecution was widespread throughout the whole country.
He knew that, as a result of this investigation, the number of applications for concessions throughout Britain had declined. Asked by Mr. Paul Chadd, also defending, Sgt. Cross said it was not obvious that firms other than those mentioned in the case were "doing this sort of thing," but, he suspected that -other firms had been doing it.
The prosecution called a number of Lyre manufacturers' representatives to give evidence as to the number of claims made. One of the witnesses, Mr. Lionel Ellis, Bristol divisional manager of Firestone Tyre and Rubber Co., Ltd., told of a visit he made to Mr. Creed after he had received certain reports from his (Mr. Ellis') sales staff, "I had dis B10
covered," said Mr. Ellis, "that people whose names had appeared on Tyre Manufacturers' forms as tyre users, and had been granted allowances for defective tyres, were not as represented. I told him this would have to stop."
The district manager for the Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., Mr. Frank Denis Farley, told Mr. Field-Fisher that he became suspicious because of the number of application forms coming from Luxton's. When Cullimore told him the T.M.C. had refused his firm credit on six tyres, he agreed to make them an allowance.
Mr. Field-Fisher: Wasn't it 10 per cent, on each tyre dealt with as a 60 per cent, allowance on one tyre?—That may well be true.
At the end of the hearing Mr. FieldFisher submited on behalf of Cullimore that there was no case to go before a jury. The bench overruled the submission and held that a prima facie case had been made out against all the accused.
Because of the absence of a prosecutioa witness, three charges against Huggins, Marshall and Guy relating to alleged false pretences were not prodeeded with, The tyre manufacturers' representatives had been clOsely questioned during the hearing as to the number of claims for defective tyres they received annually, but none was able to give precise figures.
One of them said it was probably in the neighbourhood of 2,500 to 3,000 on total sales of approximately 30,000.
Submitting that there was 'no case to answer, Mr. Field-Fisher said: " A large number of tyre manufacturers have paid out on rotten tyres.. That is what has been happening, and there is no suggestion nor any shred of evidence that they have not paid out solely on rotten tyres."
Cullimore had nothing to do with the keeping of Luxton's accounts, he said. It had earlier been elicited by the prosecution that a number of claims had been sent by Luxton's giving the name of The Stroud Sand and Gravel Co., but Cullimore denied that there was any such company.
Mr. Bowden, another defending counsel, denied a suggestion by Mr. Beezley that Luxton's had been formed to enable Cullimore to get discount for the tyres used in his business as a haulier. He owned between 40 and, 50 vehicles. " Its business," said Mr. Bowden, "is to sell tyres."
Creed and Cullimore pleaded not guilty and the other six had nothing to say.
Legal aid was granted to all the accused except Huggins and Cullimore. The latter made no application.
Mr. George Macdonald, for Creed, said although be held the "honorary position" of managing director of Luxton's, he was paid only £13 10s. week.