1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188 
Operators in paraffin case launch a court challenge
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A long-running 0-licensing wrangle is likely to run on a little longer
following a Leeds public inquiry. Mike Jewell reports.
ONE OF the industry's bitterest licensing sagas is likely to continue at least until September, the North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner has heard.
The story of Sylvia Pallas, trading as Pallas Transport, and John McCaffrey, trading as Montana Freight Services of Birtley. County urham, dates back to a Customs raid in February 2()03 when paraffin was allegedly found in a fuel store and in vehicle fuel tanks.
The 0-licences held by the two operators were revoked by NorthEastern TC Tom Macartney following a public inquiry in October 2003 on the grounds of repute and financial standing.
Those decisions were upheld by the Transport Tribunal on appeal; the Tribunal ordered that the revocations should take effect from the end of July 2004. However, that decision was appealed to the Scottish Court of Session, which directed that the matter be reconsidered by a different TC.
An application for a fresh 0licence by McCaffrey, trading as MontanaTransport, was refused in January 2005 by Deputy Traffic Commissioner Mark Hinchliffe.
Now, at the hearing ordered by the Scottish Court of Session, North-Eastern Deputy TC Elizabeth Perrett has heard that there will be a further delay pending a court challenge over the issues surrounding the paraffin.
Appearing for the two operators, Gary Hodgson said the issues were a challenge to the analysis of the samples taken by Customs in 2003, and McCaffery and Pallas's knowledge of the alleged paraffin. Civil proceedings over these issues are due to be heard at Edinburgh Sheriffs Court at a two-day hearing in September.
Customs officer Steve Hopkins said his understanding was that the Scottish proceedings involved litigation by Pallas seeking the value of the fuel seized by Customs.
He reported she was maintaining that she had lodged an appeal with Customs within the required 30-day time limit, which was being disputed. That was the issue that would be determined by the court in Scotland.
If it was decided that the appeal had been lodged within the time limit, Customs would then have to bring proceedings in the magistrate's court to show that the seizure had been a valid one.Though anxious to assist, Customs needed to protect its position until the litigation was concluded.
Adjourning the case pending a preliminary hearing on 22 September with a full hearing in the week commencing 16 October,the DTC requested that Vosa carry out an up-to-date maintenance assessment for both operators.
Hodgson said that could be beneficial for or detrimental to the two operators. The DTC commented that her concern was to ensure the fleets were roadworthy and did not kill anybody.