Appeal against revocation while director was in jail dismissed

Chris Tindall
January 23, 2025

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A tribunal has refused an appeal by a skip hire firm whose licence was revoked after failing to file its accounts on time - because its director was in prison for a GBH offence.

Digaway director Daniel Jenkins said it was unfair he lost his licence for three lorries trading out of a Bargoed, South Wales operating centre, because he was unable to communicate freely with the outside world from prison.

Jenkins was jailed for 26 months in 2023 after being convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm and criminal damage following an incident during which he dumped earth on the driveway of a customer he was in a payment dispute with and then assaulted.

The appeal tribunal said the director had not made arrangements for the management of his business involving transport operations while incarcerated, nor changed his address for company correspondence.

As a result, Digaway defaulted on filing its company accounts and the traffic commissioner later wrote to the director proposing to revoke the licence; which, having had no reply, occurred two months later.

In his appeal, Jenkins said he was unaware of any correspondence from the TC and that while he accepted the commissioner had no financial documents to persuade her Digaway had sufficient resources to continue the operation, he said he could now provide this information.

However, in its decision, tribunal judge Gary Hickinbottom said there was nothing to suggest the TC had done anything wrong:

“Holding an operator’s licence brings with it obligations, including the obligation to make arrangements to ensure that any communications from the commissioner are dealt with promptly,” he said.

“Whilst we have some sympathy with Mr Jenkins’s difficulties in communicating from prison, as the sole director and person with control of that part of his business which included transport operations, he ought to have made arrangements for the management and operation of that business whilst he was in prison.

“Whilst he told us that he did not expect an immediate custodial sentence, that was a clear and obvious risk; and, as the sole director and manager of the licence-holder company, he ought to have taken steps to ensure that the relevant operations were managed and operated in his absence.”

About the Author

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Chris Tindall

Chris Tindall started writing for the haulage and logistics industry in 2002 and has covered a broad range of significant issues, including GPS jamming by criminals, platooning and Brexit.

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