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Divorce blamed for missing records as licence is halved
Page 36
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AN OPERATOR who blamed missing records on complications arising from his divorce has had his licence cut from two vehicles and two trailers to one vehicle and one trailer.
Ilkeston-based Simon Murfin, trading as SJ Murfin Transport, had been called before North Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Elizabeth Perrett to a Leeds disciplinary inquiry to explain maintenance problems and missing records.
The DTC was told of a number of prohibitions.
Murfin said there was no connection between his operation and that of his father, John Murfin, whose licence had been revoked. Because of his marriage breakdown,during which his wife had interfered with business papers, he had kept all the documents in a briefcase in his tractor unit.The documents were lost when it was stolen, and though the tractor was recovered the documents were not.
Because of insurance problems resulting from the theft he moved to more secure premises, but due to the upset of his divorce he failed to notify the Traffic Area Office.
He believed that a crack in a leaf spring, noted on an immediate prohibition issued at annual test, had occurred on the way to the test station. He had failed to spot a bulge on one of the tyres. Maintenance was now contracted out and he undertook to have roller brake tests carried out every 12 weeks.
Cutting the licence, the DTC accepted the explanation with regard to the theft, but said it was foolhardy for Murfin to keep important documents in a vehicle in an insecure compound. The change of operating centre without notification was understandable, but the situation should have been regularised once the position was stabilised.
However, she concluded that Murfin seemed to appreciate the need to keep his operation small and manageable.