Aspey Trucks' 0-licence bid refusal is overturned by Transport Tribunal
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By Chris Tindalt
THE TRANSPORT Tribunal has allowed an appeal by a haulage firm after it found that "natural justice was not well served" when a Traffic Commissioner (TC) refused to grant an 0-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. She also believed that Wood's accounting methods were poor, and that cash transactions were not properly accounted for.
However, 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 codirector Angela Aspiotis pointed to a rehabilitative stability not considered b■,, TC Bell.
Judge Frances Burton concluded: "The TC'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 TC or Deputy Traffic Commissioner."