A 47-year-old man from Darlington has been fined £1,000 and disqualified from driving for three months after a wagon he was driving was found to have a number of defects.
Derek Ian Pattison, of Salter’s Close, pleaded guilty to having a vehicle in a dangerous condition and was also ordered to pay £125 court costs.
The court heard how, on February 3, police followed Pattison driving a wagon from Billown Quarry along St Mark’s Road.
The court heard that the wagon was dropping gravel from its load on to the road and the vehicle looked in a poor state.
Pattison was stopped by police and confirmed that he owned the vehicle, saying that he had come to the island that morning to work.
Police ordered that the vehicle be taken to the vehicle examiner and he confirmed that there were a number of defects, concluding that it was in a dangerous condition.
The wagon was also said to be carrying three tons over the permitted capacity for a vehicle of its type. The examiner said that there were brake and tyre defects and the wagon should not have been on the road.
Pattison said that he had used the wagon for that single job.
Among the examiner’s findings were that several dashboard warning lights were permanently displayed, including a brake pad warning lamp, the offside and nearside mirrors were cracked, obscuring views to the rear, wipers were inoperable, there was an electrical circuit defect, the nearside cabin step was missing, a grill across the front of the cab was cracked and exposing sharp edges, engine and transmission assemblies were leaking oil, the inner brake pad on the rear side was worn and had disintegrated completely, and offside front, nearside front and offside rear brake discs had extensive areas of damage.
The court heard that the wagon had been off the road for six to seven months and had not undergone a 12-weekly test which it was required to do before going on the road.
Defending Pattison in court, advocate James Robinson said: ‘Mr Pattison has driven for 29 years. He is embarrassed given his long service as a driver that he finds himself before the court. There was no criticism of his standard of driving.
‘The wagon had not been used for some time. Clearly there were a number of serious faults.’
Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said: ‘The vehicle was a danger not only to you, but to anyone coming into contact with it. Some defects couldn’t have been known to you, but would have, if the relevant checks had been performed.’