Disqualified driver refused return of vehicle

Traffic commissioner (TC) for Scotland Joan Aitken has refused to return an impounded truck as it was used without an O-licence and driven by a disqualified driver.

Alistair Adams was unable to prove he was owner of the vehicle, which was seized by the DVSA in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire on 5 June.

Police had seen the truck transporting a boat and the DVSA could find no evidence of the vehicle being specified on any O-licence.

During a hearing in front of the TC on 16 July, it emerged that the vehicle had been sold to Alistair Adams as an individual by his former company A Adams Haulage, a Bulgarian company that earlier this year had its O-licence revoked by the Republic of Bulgaria.

The TC considered that the bill of sale produced by Adams at the hearing had been created by him for the purpose of the appeal. She therefore found that ownership still remained with the Bulgarian company.

Adams and his wife Vari Adams had in the past been involved in a string of failed boat transportation businesses, so the TC considered them “no strangers to the licensing and regulatory regime”.

Vari Adams’ business, which traded as Euroboat Transport and for which Alastair was a driver, had its O-licence revoked in 2009.

Adams told the TC he had been driving the truck for private use, but the TC believed this was at odds with the vehicle’s tachograph records. Records for the 20 days prior to the vehicle being impounded showed a driving distance of 4,000km.

Break and rest offences between 29 April and 5 June were also discovered by the DVSA.

Adams had also been disqualified by the TC from driving HGVs for two years in September 2013, but had gained a driving licence with HGV entitlement in Bulgaria.

The TC said in her written decision dated last month: “Having found that Mr Alistair Adams as an individual is not the owner of the vehicle, I cannot grant his application for the return of the vehicle.

“I am in no doubt whatsoever that the use of this vehicle was in connection with Mr Adams’ established trade or business of moving and dealing in boats; hire and reward and his and Mrs Adams’ trade. To find otherwise would be perverse, especially given the long history which they have undertaking such work.”

Summing up: The vehicle had been operated without an O-licence and driven by a disqualified driver.

• This article originally appeared in the 20 August issue. Why not subscribe and get 12 issues for just £12?