Driver is jailed for tampering

Bradford Crown Court was told that Alan Turner had feared his employers thought he was too old and he would be sacked if he did not complete his deliveries on time.

The court heard that he often had to wait at his destination before his cargo could be unloaded, and this waiting around would mean that he would not have had the nine hours rest a day that is required by law.

So that he did not have to stay overnight at the expense of his employers, Turner opened the tachograph in order to stop it recording and started it again when he set off.

The agency driver did this on at least 14 occasions over a three month period and Judge Roger Scott told him that it was the "number one rule for HGV drivers not to touch the tachograph".

Turner pleaded guilty to 14 charges of falsifying a tachograph.

Ian Howard, mitigating, told the court that the problems started when he had to deliver to schools who would often send him away and make him wait while there were no children around.

He said: "He should not have done what he did but the reason he did it was there was a deal of pressure on him from his employers.

"Because of his age they thought he was not really up to the job and he thought he would lose his job."

The court was told that Turner, who has been a HGV driver for 15 years, will now lose his licence and job which will mean that he will lose the family home at Ramsey Street, Little Horton, Bradford.

Passing sentence Judge Scott said that the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence was justified and added that tachographs were there to protect the public from tired drivers. He said: "As a HGV driver you know precisely why these regulations are viewed serious by the authorities.

"They are not just there as an irritant to lorry drivers they are to protect public safety on the roads. Your case was persistent. It is quite clearly persistent conduct and quite deliberate."