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Drivers fined heavily for excess hours
Page 31
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Magistrates told that series of tachograph and driving hours offences were discovered during investigation into company.
FOUR DRIVERS have been ordered by magistrates to pay fines and costs totalling £2,450 after admitting a series of drivers' hours and tachograph offences, including the falsification of tachograph records.
The four, who appeared before the Wirral magistrates, are employed by Gwynedd Transport based at Holyhead, Isle of Anglesey. The company itself and seven other drivers are due to appear before the magistrates at a later date.
Alwyn Hughes, of Bangor, pleaded guilty to two offences of falsification and one of failing to use a record sheet. He was fined £200 with £100 costs.
Barry Hutchinson, of Rhosmeirch, pleaded guilty to four offences of falsification and one of exceeding the daily driving limit. He was fined 1200. with £150 costs, Andrew Gill, of Llanfeathlu, pleaded guilty to five offences of falsification. He was fined £650 with £150 costs.
Eric Thomas, of Bangor, pleaded guilty to four offences of falsification, two of exceeding the daily driving limit and two of taking insufficient daily rest. He was fined £850 with £200 costs, Prosecuting for VOSA,John Heaton said the offences had come to light during an investigation into the company, known as "Operation Mona".
He said Thomas had been convicted of 12 offences of falsification by the Ynys Mons Magistrates in June 2004 while working for another employer.
Hughes said that the offences had happened because of his ignorance of the rules. The first occurred when he ran out of time five minutes before Ellesmere Port. He had pulled on to the hard shoulder and taken the chart out before continuing to secure parking at Ellesmere Port. On the second offence he had genuinely thought the chart was in the tachograph.
Medication Hutchinson said the offences had been committed in order to reach pharmacies to buy medication so that he could keep on working. He had been in his 44th year as an HGV driver. He had taken pride in his job. but had had to give it up and was currently on statutory sick pay.
Gill said he had just left the army after 18 years. He had thought he knew enough to do the job, but now knew that his knowledge had been flawed. He had thought it was more serious to go over his hours than to falsify his records. Thomas said he had been returning to th( docks. He was stuck in a queue at night tim4 and he had taken his charts out.
Another of the company's drivers, Philij Osey, of Holyhead, was earlier fined £350 witl £55 costs by the Ynys Mon Magistrates for tw( offences of insufficient daily rest and one o exceeding the daily driving limit. •