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Ex-wife of jailed haulier fails to win back tractor unit
Page 29
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Semi-trailer is also held as TC accuses finance company of sticking its corporate head in the sand over reprehensible agreement.
THE FORMER WIFE of a jailed haulier whose licence was revoked has failed in her bid for the return of an impounded tractor unit. Eastern Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney decided Jennifer Graves still had commercial ties with her ex-husband Martin Graves, who was jailed for four years in 2003 for manslaughter by negligence and falsifying records.
The TC also refused to return the unit's semi-trailer to Lombard North Central, which had claimed ownership. He accused the finance company of sticking its head into the sand by erilering into a"reprehensible" agreement. Both Jennifer Graves and Lombard had claimed they were unaware the artic was being used without an 0-licence.
Impounded artic Senior traffic examiner Alison Armitage said the artic, which had been carrying a 40ft container, had been impounded in June.The driver had said he was employed by Eric Thompson of Blackburn-based EP Haulage and was paid by Felixstowe Logistic Solutions, who provided the work. Neither he nor the vehicle had been to Blackburn.
When Felixstowe Logistic Solutions was contacted, Martin Graves gave Vosa an 0-licence number which, he said, was held by Patricia Thompson. Vosa records showed no current licence with that number or in that name.
Martin Graves' 0-licence had been revoked in July 2003 and he had been disqualified from holding an 0-licence indefinitely.
Armitage said two other vehicles belonging to Jennifer Graves had been impounded in the past, including one in very similar circumstance& Jennifer Graves said vehicles were transferred to her as part of a divorce settlement and the vehicle concerned had been hired to EP Haulage. She agreed that her application for an 0-licence in December 2003 after her husband had been jailed,had been refused.
Graham Williams, Lombard's recoveries officer,said four trailers had been conditionally sold to Felixstowe Logistic Solutions and the contract had been signed by Martin Graves. A term of the agreement was that all use must be legal. He agreed steps had not been taken to recover the other three trailers, saying Lombard was financially protected as the hirer was obliged to pay any costs arising from illegal operation.
Local staff knew 0-licences had to be checked prior to entering an agreement, but in this case that had not been done.
Commercial link Refusing to return the tractor unit. the TC said Jennifer Graves had been economical with the truth and there was still some form of commercial link with her husband in the operation of lorries. He believed she knew the vehicle was being operated in circumstances when it needed a valid 0-licence yet did not have one.
Refusing to return the semi-trailer, the TC said Lombard had stuck its corporate head in the sand and chosen to reveal its less attractive features by entering into an agreement which in its way was reprehensible.
He decided Lombard knew an 0-licence was required and that the only way Martin Graves and his company could have used the trailers would have been illegal under the tern-is of their own contract. •