Defects were an error of judgement
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• Operating dangerously defective vehicles and trailers before an interim licence was granted has been described as an error of judgement rather than deceit by North Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner John Levin.
Michael McCarthy, trading as McCarthy Haulage (Wrexham), applied for a new national licence for six vehicles and 10 trailers based at Homestead Garage, Llay. He is a former director of McCarthy Haulage Co which went into liquidation with an estimated £318,350 debts.
Levin commented that it had "gone down with a fairly big crash, though not in the Maxwell or Nadir league".
McCarthy managed the company for its last 12-18 months but said the company was already in severe financial difficulty following the loss of a major customer. He lost 0,000 which he had loaned to the company; and personal guarantees of between £7,000 and £10,000 were being called in.
McCarthy said the vehicles carried for only two of the company's former customers. But operations started up again soon after the liquidation as McCarthy was approached by his customers who were concerned they would not obtain similar high-capacity trailers elsewhere. The company was then in turmoil and a vehicle and trailer probably went out without being properly checked.
Levin said McCarthy had been operating illegally with a vehicle and trailer in a dangerous condition.
After hearing financial evidence in private, Levin said that there had been guarantees of adequate finance for 18 months from a family friend and the first four months accounts showed McCarthy was "making a go of it".
Granting a licence for two years, with a condition restricting vehicle movement in the light of environ mental objections, Levin said McCarthy was "a phoenix-like ghost in a personal capacity arising out of the shambles of liquidation". Though Mc-Carthy had "blotted his copybook", he had been under pressure and was hoping to preserve the business. He did not consider he was unfit to hold a licence.