“All issues remain open for the re-hearing, but certainly, and I thought this would be helpful indication to you … is that there’s so much water under the bridge that if the Transport Tribunal awarded a fresh unannounced inspection … and vehicles to be put through the MOT, then it’s really what’s happened since the Transport Tribunal decision that I’m going to, if you agree, focus on, rather than going back into the [mists] of time”
“If [decisions as to acts of vandalism] because of the issues it had on culpability … is now consigned to the annals of time because the water’s passed under the bridge as it were … and we need to look at the current position from August 2007 and the unannounced visit and how Mr Wright’s vehicles performed in the September 2007 MOTs, that limits clearly the scope of the enquiry today…”
“(a) Safety inspections will be pre-planned and never more than 6 weeks apart. The PMI reports will be retained for at least 2 years. (b) Except for advisory items, all defects found at safety inspections will be rectified by an outside professional maintenance contractor and all vehicles will not be used on the roads until such rectification has taken place and the contractor has signed the certificate of roadworthiness. Records to be kept for 2 years. (c) Operator will continue to use a nil driver daily reporting system. (d) All authorised vehicles will have a thorough and effective pre MOT inspection. (e) The operator will install and use a roller brake test machine (albeit a portable one if appropriate) within 6 months.”
“I carry out all the safety inspections for [the Operator] and prefer not to undertake any major repairs. Other than occasional replacement of fuses, light bulbs or tightening of bolts etc where required, I have never discovered any faults that would render the vehicle unroadworthy. If I did so, [the Operator] would be advised accordingly.”
“I regard this as an extremely serious with clear public safety implications, coupled with an almost arrogant disregard – or, at least, a wilful misinterpretation – of the undertakings given last time, coupled with the expectations that we all had in relation to future maintenance arrangements and the role of the Transport Manager. ”
“ [E]ven if his account were true, I am not of the view that repeated and gross errors in relation to the accurate completion of tachograph records are any less serious than running a vehicle for a week after its MOT expired.”
“On the spectrum of seriousness, I find this case is at the extreme end. Mr Wright’s experience before the Transport Tribunal should have been seen as a last chance to get things right. Even then the tribunal described Mr Wright’s failings as serious… In my judgment this is now a case where revocation is not only proportionate, but also inevitable – if the PSV operator licensing system is to have any credibility. Bradley Fold Travel does indeed deserve to be put out of business. … I further consider that a reasonable time must elapse before Mr Wright could possibly claim to have regained his good repute and before he could possibly return to this important industry – upon which so many people, including vulnerable people and school children rely, and in which they have put their faith.”
“The rejection of Mr Wright’s explanation still stands, so does the conclusion that the designation of the majority of defects as ‘advisory’ was both troubling and a manipulation by Mr Wright in order to provide the justification for him to carry out the repairs himself. The criticism of Mr Wolstenholme’s failure to find defects rendering vehicles unroadworthy also stands. Finally, it was clear, and never challenged, that on several occasions Mr Wright had carried out repairs to items designated ‘delayed’ rather than ‘advisory’. In our view ample justification remains for the conclusion that there was a breach of this undertaking.”
“In our view the adverse findings are so serious and so numerous that there can be only one outcome in this case, namely that the [Operator] does deserve to be put out of business, on all the grounds relied upon by the Deputy Commissioner. In addition we are satisfied that Mr Wright, as the CPC holder, has also lost his good repute. His failings were such that it was clearly appropriate to disqualify him. The period of 18 months disqualification is neither disproportionate nor excessive.”
“The need for appellate caution in reversing the trial judge’s evaluation of the facts is based upon much more solid grounds than professional courtesy. It is because specific findings of fact, even by the most meticulous judge, are inherently an incomplete statement of the impression which was made upon him by the primary evidence. His expressed findings are always surrounded by a penumbra of imprecision as to emphasis, relative weight, minor qualification and nuance ... of which time and language do not permit exact expression, but which may play an important part in the judge’s overall evaluation.”
“The answer is, we think, ultimately to be found in the reason why (as we have put it) the appeal process is not merely a re-run second time around of the first instance trial. It is because of the law’s acknowledgement of an important public interest, namely that of finality in litigation. The would-be appellant does not approach the appeal court as if there had been no first decision, as if, so to speak, he and his opponent were to meet on virgin territory. The first instance decision is taken to be correct until the contrary is shown. As Lord Davey put it in Montgomerie [[1904] AC 73 at 82-3], “[i]n every case the appellant assumes the burden of shewing that the judgment appealed from is wrong” (our emphasis). The burden so assumed is not the burden of proof normally carried by a claimant in first instance proceedings where there are factual disputes. An appellant, if he is to succeed, must persuade the appeal court or tribunal not merely that a different view of the facts from that taken below is reasonable and possible, but that there are objective grounds upon which the court ought to conclude that a different view is the right one. The divide between these positions is not caught by the supposed difference between a perceived error and a disagreement. In either case the appeal court disagrees with the court below, and, indeed, may express itself in such terms. The true distinction is between the case where the appeal court might prefer a different view (perhaps on marginal grounds) and one where it concludes that the process of reasoning, and the application of the relevant law, require it to adopt a different view. The burden which an appellant assumes is to show that the case falls within this latter category.”
“(1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) below, an appeal shall lie in accordance with rules made by the Secretary of State from the tribunal to the Court of Appeal … . (2) No appeal shall lie from the tribunal on a question of fact or locus standi. (3) [relates to rules of court] (4) On the hearing of an appeal the Court of Appeal … may draw all such inferences as are not inconsistent with the facts expressly found and are necessary for determining the question of law, and may make any order which the tribunal could have made, and also any such further or other order as may be just.”
“I am not persuaded, on balance, by Mr Wright’s claims in relation to the tachcograph discs that appear to show journeys after the expiry of an MOT certificate. And even if his account were true, I am not of the view that repeated and gross errors in relation to the accurate completion of simple tachograph records are any less serious than running a vehicle for a week after its MOT expired.”
“[T]he question is not whether the conduct is so serious as to amount to a loss of repute but whether it is so serious as to require revocation. Put simply, the question becomes ‘is the conduct such that the operator ought to be put out of business?’ On appeal, the Tribunal must consider not only the details of cases but also the overall result.”
Showing the 50 most senior of 286.