An HGV driver who used two tachographs to do a full day’s work and then drive home to his family has received a suspended prison sentence.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that Anthony Mooney claimed his tachograph was faulty and then when a replacement arrived he did not send the original one back. He went on to use both devices on 16 occasions between July 2017 and January 2018. It enabled him to exceed his drivers’ hours and then return home.
He had since lost his job, as well as his HGV licence for five years.
Mooney admitted 16 charges of wrongly using a tachograph in a case brought by the DVSA. However, the judge said he escaped an immediate prison sentence because the law had not been broken for financial gain.
Mooney had also stopped the tacho offence before he was found out because he realised the seriousness of what he was doing, the court was told.
The judge sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
DVSA enforcement manager Howard Forester said: “With as many as one in six serious accidents being caused by tired drivers, it’s hugely important to take your breaks. This person deliberately cheated the system to allow himself to carry on driving for longer than was legal or safe. He’s now lost his job, his entitlement to drive lorries and has a criminal record.”
