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Operator fails to persuade District Judge
Page 23
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AN OPERATOR was ordered to pay fines and costs of £400 for an overloading offence after magistrates rejected a defence that the haulier, although guilty, was morally blameless because the problem had been caused by maintenance contractors.
PMIP Transport (Ireland) of Keady, Northern Ireland, was found guilty of using a vehicle in a dangerous condition after Deputy District Judge Maurice Green rejected defence arguments at Liverpool Magistrates Court.
Prosecuting for VOSA, John Heaton said the artic had been stopped in a check at Switch Island last June. An examination revealed the air suspension units on the first and second axles were deflated and the air pipes to the suspension units on the third axle were zip tied, thus preventing the flow of air through the pipes to inflate the units on the first and second axles.
As a result, the third axle was grossly overloaded by 78.5%, with little comparative load on the first and second compensating axles.
The train weight had been exceeded by 2.258 tonnes, so a heavily loaded vehicle was being used with defective suspension.
For the company, Mark Davies said there had been a suspension repair carried out by contractors a few days before. The air pipes had been tied off by the contractors while replacing the airbags, and on completion they had failed to pressurise the system.
The driver got the prohibition issued lifted by cutting the cable ties so the airbags inflated and the suspension system righted itself.
Davies argued the High Court had held that where a defendant was morally blameless for a strict liability offence such as this, no penalty should be imposed.
Fining the company 1200 and ordering it to pay £200 prosecution costs, the District Judge said that was old law made by "dead judges''