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Firm faces retrial as VI wins appeal
Page 10
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by Jez Abbott and Pete Swingler lemperatu re-controlled logistics firm Express Chilled Distribution (ECD) faces a retrial after a High Court appeal found magistrates may have wrongly acquitted it of allowing drivers to exceed their hours limits.
The Vehicle Inspectorate appealed to the High Court on 4 February, claiming that magistrates in the original June trial made a legal error.
Last June ECD—formerly Blakes Chilled Distribution— was fined just over £72,000 with £9,000 costs on 444 driving offences. The firm admitted 227 charges of failing to produce tachograph records and asked for the remaining 217 charges to be considered.
However, the Atherstone magistrates dismissed 29 charges of allowing 11 drivers to miss required rest periods after the firm, part of Leicester-based Express Dairies, denied the charges. The VI has appealed against those dismissals.
"We are disappointed the appeal has been allowed but fully understand and are fully supportive of the need for industry regulation," says Express spokeswoman Nicola Hedge. "We anticipate the judgment will clarify the position with tachograph records for all operators in the industry."
At the original trial the VI said Blakes had "shut its eyes" to excessive drivers' hours. It claimed 168,000km had been missing from the firm's records in one month alone. However, the VI will not comment further until its solicitors have collated information on the case.
Express Dairies bought Redditch-based Blakes in 1999.