Convicted robber fails in licence bid

A company formed by a man with a conviction for armed robbery has lost its bid for an O-licence. Tamworth-based Fast Track Deliveries had sought a four-vehicle licence before West Midland Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones.

Director David Storey agreed he had been convicted of armed robbery in 1995 and was given an eight-year prison sentence at Newcastle Crown Court. Further convictions for shoplifting, handling stolen property and licence condition breaches in 2001 had led to a 16-month prison sentence. He was given 160 hours community service in March 2006 for threatening behaviour.

The TC said the proposed transport manager had withdrawn and wanted to know the source of the £16,000 cash Storey had produced at the counter at the Leeds Office. Storey said he had produced cash because he was told to do so by a girl at Leeds because the bank account did not show £16,000 over a three-month period. The money was made up of the proceeds of the sale of his car, borrowings from family members and part of a bank loan.

He was currently using 3.5-tonne Luton vans, but the business was slowly "going down the tube" because he could not make the the amount of money that he could with 7.5-tonne vehicles. Another person had agreed to act as his transport manager and he intended to take the CPC exam himself next year. He did not have a written agreement with his proposed transport manager.

The TC was not satisfied the company met the requirements in relation to good repute and professional competence since there was no corroboration of what he had been told.