The Transport Tribunal has allowed an appeal by a haulage company after it found that "natural justice was not well served" when a Traffic Commissioner (TC) refused to grant an O-licence.
Aspey Trucks' application for six vehicles and eight trailers will now be heard by another TC following the conclusion by North West TC Beverley Bell that director Edward Wood could not be trusted after he gave unclear and inconsistent responses to her questions.
The Tribunal said Bell's decision relied on Wood's conviction for serious drug offences, for which he had received an 11-year prison sentence. However, she had also thought Wood's accounting methods were poor and that cash transactions were not properly accounted for.
But the Tribunal ruled that Wood's vague responses were due to "a lack of sophistication and an ineptitude for speaking in public" and that her interrogation of his accounting methods was an "unexpected ambush".
It went on to state that Wood displayed significant evidence of rehabilitation and that his personal and business relationship with co-director Angela Aspiotis pointed to a rehabilitative stability not considered by TC Bell.
Judge Frances Burton concluded: "The Traffic Commissioner's finding of lack of repute was a little abrupt and that natural justice was not well served. Although this is a borderline case, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed and remitted for reconsideration by another Traffic Commissioner or Deputy Traffic Commissioner."
