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Disqualified for forged document
Page 18
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Lorry driver William Dowler has been fined £350 in fines and costs and disqualified from driving for four months by Harlow Magistrates after he was found driving a vehicle without a licence or insurance—and produced a forged driving licence to a traffic examiner.
Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, Anthony Ostrin said that the offences came to light during a road check at Tilbury Docks when Dowter drove a three-axle Volvo tractive unit into a check site. He produced a document to the traffic examiner that resembled a driving licence, saying that it was his licence.
However, a check of the DVLA database revealed no licence had been issued with the details provided by Dowler.
When questioned about the matter, Dowler said he had obtained the false licence in the name of his dead father in a pub in leysdown, near Sheerness, about two months previously. He had paid .£200 for it and he knew it to be a forgery.
Dowler said he had bought the false licence because he could not hold a driving licence on medical grounds. He had lost his HGV driving entitlement and subsequently his licence had been revoked due to high blood pressure. Driving was the only thing that he could do and he had taken a chance.
In fining Dowler and imposing the disqualification order the magistrates said that driving while medically unfit was a very dangerous activity and if he had had an accident while uninsured it would have been a very serious situation. As Dowler was currently unemployed the penalties imposed were less than they otherwise would have been.