NO DECEIT
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• I decided to start a business with a tipper lorry, and a friend who has been in the same business for a long time said I could put it on his licence. I phoned the Traffic Area Office to check this and was told it would be in order. My friend then got a disc with my lorry number on and I put it in the lorry windscreen.
When my driver was out with the tipper he was pulled into a checkpoint. The Ministry man looked at the disc and asked the driver who he worked for. He gave my name. The Ministry man said the disc was for a different person and took it off the lorry. I have now received a summons for using an 0-licence disc with intent to deceive. What do you advise?
II It appears that you might have been misled by the Traffic Area Office, or you might not have been specific as to whose driver would be driving the vehicle.
But because the driver was working for you, it was you who should have held the 0-licence and had a dsc in your name an the vehicle. Only if the driver was the "servant or agent" of your friend would the use of his licence have been legal.
However, for this charge to succeed the prosecution has to prove that you had "mens rea" (guilty knowledge) by using the disc at the lorry windscreen. They have to produce evidence that you had the intention of deceiving someone—probably enforcement staff—into believ
ing you held a licence. On this basis, you should plead not guilty to this charge.
If you are not represented by a solicitor in court you should, after the examiner has given his evidence, ask him to confirm that the disc was made out to your vehicle, that it was a genuine disc, and that it had not been altered in any way.
When it is your turn to give evidence, explain that you had obtained advice on the matter from Traffic Area Office and describe how you came to have the disc on your vehicle. Make it clear to the court that you honestly believed your use of the disc was in order and that you had no intention of deceiving anyone. Point out that the disc was a current one and related to your vehicle.
The more appropriate charge in these circumstances would have been simply one of using the lorry when not the holder of an Operator's Licence.