A bid by disgraced haulier Stuart Oliver to have his O-licence disqualification lifted has been adjourned. In March 2005, after being found guilty of conspiracy to falsify tachograph charts, Oliver and his father Martin were sentenced to 18 months and nine months respectively. Oliver's mother Marion received a six-month suspended sentence at the same trial. The three faced costs of nearly £200,000 each, and the Transport Tribunal had upheld a decision by then TC Beverley Bell to revoke the firm's O-licence.
In addition to Stuart Oliver's application, his wife Katherine Oliver - along with John and Elsie Swan, trading as JW Swan & Partners of Hexham - had been called before North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell. The DTC was considering action against the firm's two-vehicle licence and, at the request of Katherine Oliver, that case has also been adjourned. Stuart Oliver was one of two partners in Hexham-based William Martin Oliver & Partners which, at the time of his trial employed more than 100 drivers.
The DTC said she was reviewing decisions made by herself, Scottish Traffic Commissioner Joan Aitken and the Transport Tribunal. She was concerned about how the Swan licence could continue in its present form because of Katherine Oliver's repute. She needed to look at the position as it was today, what had happened to the licence in the intervening period and whether the operation had changed to get round the orders she had made, preventing William Martin Oliver & Partners from continuing to operate.
Seeking an adjournment of the partnership case, Katherine Oliver said she was not fully prepared and had not had time to seek legal advice. Her parents were not present, as notification of the public inquiry had only just been received, and the notice was too short. She said that, following a visit by Vosa, her mother no longer wanted to be part of the transport concern and had withdrawn from the partnership. Katherine Oliver told the DTC that the transport operation was run largely by her with help from her father.
Questioned further, Oliver said the vehicles were driven by her husband and Stephen Sloan. Sloan was out with one vehicle that day, and the other was parked at the Bardon Mill warehouse, the former Oliver premises. Asked why it was not at the operating centre, she said the other driver needed it for a different load, and it was a round trip of 50 miles between the operating centre and Bardon Mill. Seeking an adjournment of Stuart Oliver's case, his solicitor Michael Cunningham said that if the Swan licence was being used to circumvent the Oliver orders, it would damage his client's credibility. In adjourning both cases, the DTC said one of the matters she would want to know about was the use of a vehicle allegedly driven by William Oliver in his daughter-in-law's business.
