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The final Bell tolls for Oliver
Page 31
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The bosses at William Martin Oliver & Partners escaped punishment due to a hung jury — but TC Beverley Bell has booted them out of the industry.
NORTHUMBRIAN HAULAGE firm William Martin Oliver & Partners has been dealt a devastating blow by the North Western TC after she removed the firm's licence and banned its directors from the industry.
The Haltwistle firm held a licence for 52 vehicles and 106 trailers in the North-East; for eight vehicles and 75 trailers in the North-West; and for 22 vehicles and 45 trailers in Scotland.
TC Beverley Bell had delayed announcing her decision in case it prejudiced the eightweek criminal trial involving the partners, William Martin, Marion and Stuart Oliver.That trial ended in May when the jury failed to reach a verdict — all three partners had denied any knowledge of what the drivers were doing.
In a damning 121-page verdict Bell savaged the culture at the firm and said she had a duty to remove managing partner Stuart Oliver from the industry as he had "displayed contempt for the concept of fair competition and road safety".
She added that she found his promises to be "empty, meaningless and lacking in substance"
No sign of a culture change
The TC said that following the drivers' conviction there was no evidence of any culture change within the firm. She was satisfied that all three partners had obstructed the investigation, had failed to co-operate in the police interviews and had sought to evade responsibility for the offences.
Bell remarked that they had failed to send any clear message to the drivers to desist from illegal activity: instead they simply took steps to protect the firm's reputation. She was satisfied that the firm had been, and still was, prepared to put commercial gain above the drivers' hours and tachograph regulations.
The scale of offending by the drivers was so great that all three partners either knew orshould have known what was going on. The culture of falsification of tachograph charts and the incorrect completion of timesheets was endemic and was allowed to continue unchecked.
William Martin Oliver had not complied with his obligations as a transport manager for many years, said Bell. He was content to delegate responsibility for compliance with the hours and tachograph legislation to his son, and responsi bility for finance to his wife. She was satisfied he had turned a blind eye to the activities of the drivers. His failings were so serious as to require her to take him out of the business of operating commercial vehicles
Excluded from the industry
Marion Oliver had been responsible for drivers' wages and must have known that time sheets were being wrongly filled in, which should have led her to make enquiries. Her conduct was so serious as to make her exclusion from the industry a necessity.
The TC directed that the revocation and disqualification orders should take effect from the end of October.