Commercial contract hire customers warning on falsified records
Posted by Joanna Simons
The jailing of a father and son who falsified tachograph records has been deemed a warning to others - including those in commercial contract hire.
Colin Linder and his son Sean Newson were each imprisoned after admitting the offence in order to hide the fact too much driving on too little rest had taken place.
Mr Newson had permitted his name to be used wrongly on 16 records with The Port of Felixstowe, where he and Mr Linder operated.
He was sentenced to four months while his father, who falsified 20 records, was given six months and banned from driving for a year.
The Department for Transport said that the punishments, given after the pair admitted the offences at Ipswich Crown Court, gave a "clear message to the industry".
Alex Fiddes, chief operating officer for the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), added that the sentences imposed demonstrated "the severity of fraudulent records".
VOSA is a testing, licensing and enforcement service provider.
