'Barefaced cheating' says magistrate
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Vegetable merchant fined £1,400 for 'irresponsible' hours offences
HOURS and records offences committed by Leeds vegetable merchant and haulier, Mr Lionel Golesworthy, and one of his drivers, led to fines and costs of £1,980 being imposed by Leeds City Magistrates last week.
Mr Golesworthy admitted 57 offences of permitting drivers to exceed their hours and of failing to cause current records to be kept. Mr H. Davison, of Swacliffe, admitted 19 hours offences and 12 records offences. A second driver, Mr H. Childs, who appeared before the magistrates on October 28, had been fined £320 after admitting 19 offences.
Mr M. Patterson, prosecuting for the Yorkshire LA, said silent checks had revealed that the drivers were working when their records showed they were resting, and it became clear that very substantial excess hours had been worked. Mr Golesworthy must have been aware of what was happening, and from statements made by the drivers, might well have encouraged it. When interviewed by enforcement staff, Mr Childs had said the hours he had been working were too much for him to carry on. He had admitted being paid sums in excess of those shown in the wages book for the excess hours worked.
Mr Patteson submitted that the evidence showed that the drivers had been driving for dangerously long periods.
In mitigation, M r Stephen Kirkbright, defending, said the regulations were complex and many of the charges arose out of the fact the drivers had had less than 11 consecutive hours of rest between two working days.
Drivers employed on collecting agricultural produce from agricultural premises were allowed to work a 14-hour spreadover. Golesworthy had not realized that this did not apply to produce collected from the docks, which his artic was doing. He had also not appreciated that the time a driver spent travelling to pick up a vehicle had to be regarded as "duty time". However, he accepted that on some occasions even the 14 hours had been exceeded.
Fining Golesworthy £1,400, with £20 costs, and Davison 1560, the chairman of the magistrates, Mr Andrew Cole, said there was no excuse for what was barefaced cheating of the community. Golesworthy had adopted a completely irresponsible attitude as an employer. The thought of 32-ton vehicles hurtling up and down MI at 70 mph was frightening.