Truck theft: driver guilty
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• A truck driver has admitted stealing an ERF tractive unit from his former employer and selling it to another haulier after claiming it was his own, when he appeared at Knutsford Crown Court.
John Cecil of Kentmore Court, Blackley, Manchester pleaded guilty to the theft from Perrys Transport, Macclesfield. He also admitted obtaining the sum of .24,500 from Meteor Transport, Macclesfield, by deception.
Peter Hughes, prosecuting, said Perrys' owner Alan Perry had disappeared in April 1989, leaving Cecil without a job. Cecil agreed with a relative of Perry's to hire the truck, which he drove for £150 a week. But he failed to sign a legal agreement which had been drawn up.
Police were called in when the DVLC wrote to say an application had been made to register the vehicle. Cecil had "cunningly" tried to dispose of the ERF for his own gain, said Hughes. When interviewed by police, he had produced documents showing that he had bought the vehicle from Perrys, and that he was owed more than £1,000, including £875 in unpaid wages, from Perrys Transport. Both papers were a total sham, said Hughes. Cecil removed the Perrys name from the cab and sold it to Sue Mitchell of Meteor. He had said he had a lien (a right on property until a debt is paid) on the vehicle, because of the money he was owed. Sentencing was adjourned until December.