Haulier ordered to pay £500,000 for forged records

Pembrokeshire-based Mansel Davies & Son has been ordered to pay £500,000 after putting the public and its employees at risk by forging lorry maintenance records.

The haulage and storage business, which holds an international licence operating up to 100 HGVs out of 15 operating centres in South West Wales, received the record fine of £380,000 plus £120,000 costs at Swansea Crown Court.

It had pleaded guilty to 19 offences of forgery and counterfeiting maintenance records from October to December 2017 at an earlier hearing.

Jonathan Phillips, 28, who was an administrative assistant at the company, was also given a nine month prison sentence suspended for two years and has been ordered to pay £1,500 costs after pleading guilty to forging maintenance records.

The sentencing on 11 February follows an investigation by the DVSA, which found that the company was forging its lorry maintenance records to suggest it was carrying out its regular full vehicle examinations to meet the requirements of its operator licence.

A handwriting expert identified that one person within the company was writing the false records.

Caroline Hicks, DVSA head of national enforcement, said: “DVSA’s priority is to protect everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles. 

“This large company forged safety documents to deliberately avoid regular maintenance checks on their vehicles, this put the public and their employees at risk.

“We always pursue operators and push for the toughest penalties where there’s evidence they are cutting corners at the expense of road safety.”