Tax discs were stolen
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• Lancashire operator Leo Wrigley was
ordered to pay fines and back duty totalling £8,300 when he admitted a series of charges including handling and fraudulently using stolen excise licences, and using a restricted 0licence for hire or reward.
Leigh Magistrates fined Wrigley, of Calderbank, Burnley Road, Altham, Accrington, £350 for handling a stolen excise licence, £250 on each of three charges of using vehicles without insurance, £100 on each of three charges of the fraudulent use of excise licences and three charges of using vehicles without excise licences. They imposed no separate penalty for the 0-licence offences but ordered him to pay £6,600 back duty The court heard that in March a traffic examiner stopped a tipper on Pilsworth Road, Bury, being driven by Wrigley's son, Andrew. He noticed the excise licence displayed had details typewritten on it. However, there was also a post office stamp and excise licences issued by post offices have hand-written details.
Enquiries revealed that the excise licence in question had been stolen from Moor End Post Office. The vehicle was laden with soil, which was being carried on behalf of Bury Metropolitan Council, as a sub contractor of S&B Tippers, of Great Harwood.
When a police officer visited Wrigley's premises, he saw two other tippers with excise licences with typewritten details and post office stamps. Both had been stolen from Bromley Post Office. A check of the tachograph charts showed that both vehicles were in regular use.
When interviewed, Wrigley admitted buying the excise licences for £100 from a man who had stayed at his bed and breakfast accommodation.
Wrigley also admitted that despite being the holder of a restricted 0-licence, he had repeatedly used his three vehicles for hire or reward.
Two of the vehicles were covered by an insurance policy which specifically excluded work for hire or reward, and the third by a policy which covered any motor car but was not effective for a goods vehicle When asked whether he had anything to say at the conclusion of the interview, Wrigley had allegedly said: "No. Guilty aren't I? It was obvious the discs were knocked off. My son had no idea about the discs."