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End of the road for 0-licence saga

26th October 2006
Page 10
Page 10, 26th October 2006 — End of the road for 0-licence saga
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Two County Durham operators have been allowed to keep their licences but their legal representatives

have faced criticism. Mike Jewell reports.

A FOUR-YEAR licensing saga came to an end last week when two County Durham operators were allowed to keep their 0-licences.

Sylvia Pallas, trading as Pallas Transport with a licence for 16 vehicles and 16 trailers, and John McCaffrey, trading as Montana Freight Services with a licence for six vehicles and six trailers,had been called before North-Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Elizabeth Perrett for reconsideration of disciplinary action as directed by the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland.

The case dates back to October 2003 when the North-Eastern TC Tom Macartney revoked the licences held by the two operators on the grounds of repute and financial standing. This followed allegations that paraffin had been found in a large fuel tank at their shared premises and in vehicle fuel tanks in February of that year.

Those revocations were later upheld by the Transport Tribunal on appeal. However, that decision was in turn appealed to the Court of Session, which allowed the appeal to the extent that they directed the matter be reconsidered by a different TC. Meanwhile, an application for a fresh licence by McCaffrey, trading as Montana Transport, was refused in January 2005.

Serious offence

The case first came before Perrett in July. when the hearing was adjourned to await the outcome of proceedings in Edinburgh Sheriff's Court involving litigation by Pallas seeking the value of the fuel seized by Customs (CM 3 August).

When the hearing resumed, Pallas told the Deputy TC that she was still no nearer to knowing if she was guilty of any offence (CM 19 October).

Perrett said the use of paraffin that had not incurred duty was viewed as an extremely serious matter. It was regarded with abhorrence by operators who did operate within the law as it meant the playing field was not level. Perrett expected reputable operators to do everything in their power to ensure that such fuel did not find its way into their fuel tanks.

Positive note

On the plus side, she noted that Customs and Excise was satisfied there had been no use of paraffin over any period of time. Additionally, she was happy Pallas now had samples of fuel taken for testing on occasion to ensure the same problem never arose again. McCaffrey had admitted he was stupid in accepting the paraffin and was equally adamant there would be no recurrence.

Both of the recent maintenance investigations undertaken by the vehicle examiner were satisfactory, and the operators appeared to be making efforts to ensure theirfleets were run safely and in accordance with the law Perrett added.

Perrett said she had formed the opinion that Pallas was a feisty lady who had overcome many hardships in her life to run her own operation.

She appeared willing to learn from her mistakes, take advice and move on.The prohibition rate was steadily improving from a high in 2001. She was satisfied that Pallas could and would once again be a good operator. Her repute was severely tarnished but not lost.

She considered McCaffrey had made a serious error of j udgement in not questioning the fuel he was being offerechshe was satisfied that whilst his repute hung by a thread it was not lost.

Although the licences remain in place, the DTC did suspend half the operational fleets of both operators for a period of four days to enable drivers and fitters to receive training.


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