Please find some of our recent cases below.
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Card Pulling Truck Drivers Escape Jail - June 2020
These two defendants, father and son, represented at the Crown Court by barrister Harry Bowyer, had pulled their cards on numerous occasions. (One had pulled his card on over 40 separate occasions). SBC negotiated acceptable pleas and were able to put forward powerful mitigation which resulted in one driver being […]
Transport Manager Fills Online Application Using Director’s Details – Licence Refused Until Fresh Application Received - June 2020
In this Virtual Public Inquiry the issue boiled down to the fact that the Transport Manager filled out the on line application purporting to be the Director. The issue only came to light as she managed to misspell the Director’s surname and failed to declare a previous appearance by the […]
Clandestine Entrants – Civil Penalty for Company Cancelled. - June 2020
In this case the vehicle had entered the UK with 16 migrants in the vehicle. The company received a penalty of £28,800. The driver penalty was £9600. After a Notice of Objection, the Company Penalty was cancelled in full, the driver was reduced down to £288.
Virtual Public Inquiry – Traffic Commissioner Grants Licence Despite Poor History. - June 2020
This Operator, represented at the Virtual Public Inquiry by barrister Harry Bowyer, had a less than perfect operator licence history. He had a previous insolvent company (not declared on the instant application) and a previous conviction for operating without a licence. His vehicles had appeared on more licences than Zsa […]
Win in The Court of Appeal for SBC – Law on Police Liability in Non-Injury Negligence Cases Needs Settling - June 2020
In the case of TRANSPORT ARENDONK v CHIEF CONSTABLE OF ESSEX, (Richard Barraclough QC representing international haulier Transport Arendonk, instructed by transport specialist lawyer Simon Clarke of Smith Bowyer Clarke) the Chief Constable of Essex has been refused permission to launch a second appeal in this action for negligence after […]
Phoenix and Fronting Issues Dealt with at Traffic Commissioner’s Virtual Public Inquiry - June 2020
At this Virtual Public Inquiry the Operator was represented by barrister Harry Bowyer. The issues revolved around a previous Operator Licence holding company that had recently gone into liquidation. The director of the applicant company had also been a director of the defunct company but had failed to mention it […]
Police Seek Deprivation of Vehicle – Vehicle Returned Without Hearing - May 2020
The owner of a car seized by the police approached SBC as the Police had stated that they were going to seek its deprivation. After a polite series of telephone calls and emails the police very courteously agreed to return the car, much to the relief of its owner.
Virtual Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry. Operator’s Truck has no MOT for 9 months. Keeps licence. - May 2020
This operator, represented at a Virtual Public Inquiry by Harry Bowyer, was called into a Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry owing to failures in their maintenance regime including running a truck for 9 months without and MOT (result of over reliance on maintenance provider). They also fell short on their drivers’ […]
SBC Conduct First-Ever Virtual Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry - April 2020
Simon Clarke acted for the Applicant in the first-ever virtual Public Inquiry, held this morning over MS Teams conferencing technology. Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney (West of England) presided over the application for a Standard International Licence, with documents forwarded by email for consideration at the PI. All participants joined the […]
Conditional Discharge for PSV Driver for Tachograph and Drivers’ Hours Offences. - March 2020
The PSV driver was represented by Millicent Dooher, barrister, at the Magistrates’ Court after the driver was caught by DVSA officers having failed to take a sufficient break and pulling his tachograph card whilst transporting school children. The Magistrates were persuaded to impose a conditional discharge rather than a fine, […]
