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Hours fines are halved Haulage boss guilty

3rd September 1998
Page 21
Page 21, 3rd September 1998 — Hours fines are halved Haulage boss guilty
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

of false tacho scam

• Fines imposed on a Manchester owner-driver for two drivers' hours offences have been halved on appeal to Chester Crown Court.

William Kelly, who trades as Kelly & Cassidy, of Rusholme, had admitted taking insufficient daily rest and driving for 12hr 53min. He was fined £400 for each offence and ordered to pay £55 costs by Macclesfield magistrates. The offences were found when his vehicle was stopped in a check at Rastherne.

For Kelly John Backhouse said that on the day Kelly was stopped he had driven, with breaks, between 06:40hrs and 17:40hrs, when he removed the tacho chart thinking that he had finished his work.

But about two hours later he was contacted by his main customer, Golden Crisps, asking him to take an urgent load to Crumlin, near Pontypool.

He had taken four hours' break before collecting the load and he took another driver with him to share the driving. But he failed to realise that he was running out of the 24-hour period in which his daily rest had to be taken. Backhouse argued that one penalty was appropriate as both offences had arisen from the same circumstances.

Reducing the fines to £400, and ordering that Kelly's appeal costs be paid out of public funds, Judge Derek Halbert said he considered the magistrates' penalty to have been excessive. • A Leicestershire haulier has been found guilty of aiding and abetting drivers to falsify tachograph records.

Nailstone-based Patricia Bakewell had denied 12 offences involving three drivers. Leicester magistrates fined her £3,000 and ordered her to pay £750 costs.

Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, John Hodgson said that in eight of the cases drivers had used the name of a fitter, Tony Bromley, without his knowledge. In the other four cases the tachograph equipment had been interfered with The drivers could not leave vehicles in the yard over the weekend to avoid the risk of repossessions after Bakewell's father had gone bankrupt.

Hooper was told to take his vehicle away by Bakewell, who was aware that his hours were

up. She suggested he use Bromley's name. Bakewell was aware the work allocated was way beyond what could be done legally Driver David Curtis said he was never challenged about the false charts. The amount of work each day could not be done legally and anyone in the profession would know that.

Driver Simon Spadaccini said he had discussed with Bakewell the difficulty he was having in carrying out the work legally. She knew what was happening.

David Parry who checked the tachograph records, said he had told Bakewell many times that drivers were using Bromley's name. If he found hours discrepancies, he would write letters to the drivers pointing them out, and then give copies to Bakewell.

Bakewell said she had never told the drivers to falsify and had not been responsible for allocating the work. Her customers would give the drivers their collections and deliveries. She denied that the drivers had ever told her they could not do the work legally


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