U nawa re--but still liable, say judges
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• Magistrates sitting at Old Fletton, Hunts, on 11 July 1967, erred in dismissing summonses alleging that Mr. Neville Buckle Sanders, of Werrington Bridge Road, New borough, Peterborough, used an articulated lorry without displaying trade plates and the general trade licence, three judges ruled in the High Court on Thursday. Lord Parker, the Lord Chief Justice, sitting with Lord Justice Winn and Mr. Justice Ashworth in the Queen's Bench Division Court, allowed, with costs, a police appeal.
They ordered that the case should go back for the magistrates to convict Mr. Sanders.
Giving judgment, Lord Parker said the magistrates dismissed the summonses because Mr. Sanders was on holiday when police stopped the lorry and was unaware it was being driven without trade plates.
The sole question was whether the driver, in taking the vehicle to a brickworks a day earlier than instructed, was acting within the scope of his employment.
Lord Parker said the inevitable conclusion from the facts seemed to be that the use by the driver was a use on behalf of Mr. Sanders who was therefore liable.
Lord Parker added that he saw no reason for disturbing the dismissal by the magistrates of a summons alleging that the lorry was used without an excise licence. The magistrates had dismissed that summons because Mr. Sanders had trade plates to cover its use.