Aspey director loses Licence refusal appeal
Page 22
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Appeal judge concludes that authorising 0-licence to director would 'scandalise the industry'
roger. brownerni.co.0 k A DIRECTOR AT Aspey Transport who has served a prison sentence for conspiracy to supply class-B drugs has lost an appeal against a deputy traffic commissioner's (DTC) decision to refuse the company an 0-licence.
Upper tribunal judge Mark Hinchliffe dismissed the challenge from Edward Wood, one of two directors at the Nottingham haulier, against the June 2010 decision by Tom Macartney, sitting as DTC for the North Western Traffic area, to refuse the licence for six vehicles and eight trailers.
During the public inquiry. the DTC considered Wood's conviction at Woolwich Crown Court in October 1998 of conspiracy to supply class-B drugs.
Wood was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment and a £12,000 confiscation order was made.
The offence was detected when Wood returned from France, after driving there and back in an HGV on a job. In total, 785kg of cannabis resin was found in secret compartments below the floor of the trailer. The estimated street value of the drugs was put at £3.4in and, at the time. Wood did not hold an 0-licence.
The DTC also looked at a driving disqualification Wood received after being convicted of driving with an alcohol level over the prescribed limit in 1997 In his conclusion, the DTC said that Wood had been a "model prisoner" who had been awarded parole at the earliest stage and had successfully run a business following his release from prison.
However, he concluded that Aspey Transport, with Wood as its principal director, had failed to satisfy him as to repute. In the appeal, Aspey claimed that apart from the conviction for conspiracy, any previous convictions were spent and should have been disregarded.
However, the appeal judge said the DTC's conclusion was "not plainly wrong". He added: "The public, operators, customers and competitors alike, all expect that those permitted to join the industry will not blemish or undermine its good name or abuse the privileges that it bestows. Given the use of a heavy goods vehicle in the commission of the crime, any other conclusion would have astonished the public and scandalised the industry."