Caught driving off a ferry
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• Hull lorry driver Andrew Verity who falsified a tachograph chart to cover up the fact that he had been at the wheel of a vehicle driven from a ferry to the dock, was given a conditional discharge for 12 months by the Trafford, Greater Manchester magistrates.
Verity, of Emberton Park, Kingswood, Hull pleaded guilty to falsifying the chart at the North Sea Ferry Terminal, Hull.
Prosecuting for the Department of Transport, John Heaton said the mileage concerned was very modest but the reason for the falsification was that Verity was driving on day seven, having already driven for six.
In April an artic belonging to MAT Fleet Services, and driven by Verity was stopped in a check at the dynamic axle weighbridge at Thornhain Island. When Verity produced his charts to the traffic examiner, the one for 22 April showed a journey between Rochefort and Zeebrugge. The record for 23 April, showing Ferry Terminal to Kingston upon Hull, was in the name of a Paul Leighton. The examiner suspected it was false. Asked who had driven the vehicle from the ferry, Verity replied he had. Verity had created a false chart to make the records look right. The falsification was only found because the traffic examiner had experience of such offences.
Defending, Mike Salt said MAT's operations manager Derek Heron had said it was a common occurrence as the seventh day's driving was over a short distance on private land. The company was aware of what was going on. However, there was no prosecution against it.
Verity had been in a bit of a quandary It would have caused considerable difficulty if he had not driven his vehicle off the ferry. Be drove it through Customs and then a matter of feet to a private dock compound. The regulations were designed to prevent the danger of tired drivers. That did not apply in Verity's case, as he had driven for only a short distance at a slow speed, and he had just had a good night's rest on the ferry.
The magistrates ordered Verity to pay E75 towards the prosecution costs.