A Newhaven-based haulier convicted of making a false tachograph record has had his O-licence suspended for 48 hours and been ordered to complete the drivers’ hours and tachograph module of the Driver CPC qualification within two months.
At an October public inquiry in Eastbourne, Nick Denton, Traffic Commissioner (TC) for London and the South East, looked at a Vosa investigation that had resulted in owner-driver Neil Penfold being prosecuted at North Essex Magistrates’ Court in June 2012.
Penfold - authorised to operate three vehicles - was convicted for offences of failing to enter details on a tachograph record sheet, knowingly making a false record and taking insufficient rest within a 24 hour period.
He was fined a total of £1,250.
Penfold also failed to disclose the offences to the TC's office.
At the inquiry, TC Denton measured the convictions against the operator’s previous good record, concluding there had been no commercial gain from the offences, but said he had to consider the “seriousness of the offence of making a false record”.
The TC suspended his sole trader’s licence for two days from 27 October, and ordered him to undertake the CPC qualification before the end of the year.
Denton told Penfold, who is the named transport manager CPC holder, that his repute had been damaged by the incident and might not survive if it reoccurred in the future.
Year: 2019 | Body Type: Skip | Cab Type: Day | Registration: GN19HJE | Mileage: 342,000 km | Power: 240 bhp
Year: 2014 | Body Type: Dropside | Registration: SY14GDF | Mileage: 649,384 km | Category: Rigids
