A removals company has been put out of business after its director was caught at the wheel without a tachograph card and ignored a prohibition notice by driving off. Azam Amin and his company AJ Removals & Storage have been disqualified for three years, its O-licence has been revoked and Amin has also lost his good repute as a transport manager following the incident in May 2018.
Traffic commissioner (TC) Nick Denton said the director had compounded his actions by fabricating the claim that he did not need a tachograph card because he was doing unpaid gas repair work for a friend on his day off. Further investigation found the claim was untrue and Amin had been undertaking furniture removals and had been paid £1,000.
A public inquiry in Birmingham was adjourned due to Amin being prosecuted by the DVSA for using a false instrument, for which he was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. When the PI took place in May 2019, Amin’s solicitor said her client had been angry at being issued with a fixed penalty for not using a tacho card and had driven off despite having been issued with a driving prohibition. He then “stupidly” attempted to cover his tracks by drafting a letter he induced a customer to sign, which claimed he was doing gas fitting work, because he feared he was in trouble for driving away from the examiner.
Amin told the TC he had never been in trouble before and any regulatory action would severely effect his business, which employed five full-time people. However, Denton said his offence was “not a one-off moment of madness”. He said: “The original offence was compounded by driving away while under prohibition. That might have been a heat-of-the-moment action that Mr Amin could have gone some way towards remedying by volunteering the truth subsequently. This is not the action of a reputable transport manager or operator.”
