Bayles license is cut
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/ County Durham haulage contractor Geoffrey Bayles has had his licence revoked and has been disqualified from holding or obtaining an '0' licence for 12 months following disciplinary proceedings before North Eastem Licensing Authority Frederick Whalley.
Bayles, trading as Geoff Bayles Transport of Fishburn, was convicted in January at Teeside Crown Court of one offence of making a false instrument, one of using a false instrument and one of receiving stolen property following the purchase of stolen excise licence discs.
His appeal against the six months suspended sentence was subsequently dismissed. (CM 30 July-8 August.) Questioned about offences he had asked to be taken into consideration, Bayles said they related to a second excise licence disc which had never been used. He admitted he had failed to disclose that he had been fined 2150 after being convicted by the Durham magistrates on 26 January of using a vehicle without an excise licence as he had not realised that it was relevant.
Whalley said there was also a conviction for falsifying a tachograph chart. Enforcement staff had recently examined Bayles's charts but required further information before deciding whether the regulations had again been breached. A vehicle examiner had reported that Bayles's vehicle was in good condition. Bayles said he had been operating for 10 years and had regarded himself as honest before the offences were committed. The LA said he had given the case a lot of thought in view of the implications for Bayles' family, but the tachograph offence alone was sufficient to justify revocation.
The pattern of offences painted a picture of someone prepared to break the law and act dishonestly to further his own ends and the appeal court judge was reported to have said: He was engaged in a course of quite deliberate dishonesty to defraud the revenue".