Phillips and bosses fined
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• Phillips Tankers (Bulk Powders) Manchester, its managing director Peter Phillips and director Neil Lightfoot have all been ordered to pay fines, costs and back-duty totalling 24,169.99, by Salford Magistrates, for operating unregistered and untaxed vehicles and for hours and tachograph offences.
The company pleaded guilty to 10 offences of using vehicles without excise licences; five offences of failing to produce tachograph charts; 11 of permitting drivers to make false entries; two of permitting drivers to fail to use tachographs, and 20 of permitting them to take insufficient daily and weekly rest.
Phillips pleaded guilty to 10 offences of aiding and abetting the company to use untaxed vehicles and four of permitting drivers to falsify charts. Lightfoot pleaded guilty to seven offences of permitting drivers to falsify charts.
Mark Callaghan, prosecuting, said the offences came to light as a result of an inspection of the company's tachograph records by P C Graham Robinson of Greater Manchester police.
Drivers had used as many as three charts in a day, one in their own name and others in the name of Phillips and Lightfoot. New vehicles had been put on the road without being registered or taxed. The odometer readings disclosed that vehicles had been used without any tachograph record:, for the journeys concerned.
Phillips said that at the time he had not been working in the traffic office, and a transport manager had been paid to look after that side of the business. The transport manager was dismissed and action taken to stop the illegal use of tachographs after the offences came to light. There had been no reason for the drivers to exceed the hours limits.
The company had been a two-vehicle operation until it won a contract for the movement of light ash.
Vehicles had been used without being registered or taxed as the company had been waiting for finance to come through. They had not been used deliberately to defraud anyone; it was believed that the vehicles would be taxed within a short space of time.
Lightfoot maintained that he had never given the drivers permission to use his name. He had resigned his directorship at the end of January.
The company was fined a total of £5,300. It was ordered to pay £6,679.99 back-duty and costs of £30. Phillips was fined £1,700 and ordered to pay £30 costs; while Lightfoot was fined £400 and £30 costs.