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An owner-driver who failed to to appear at a public inquiry and had not notified the Traffic Commissioner of a string of serious convictions has lost his O-licence and been disqualified for three years. The latest conviction of Bangor-based Richard Rowlands, trading as Richard Rowlands Transport, was for driving while using a mobile phone. In addition the Welsh Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones suspended Rowlands' LGV driving licence until such time as he appears before him.

No action was  taken against Rowland's transport manager, Michael Pritchard, other than to issue a warning after the TC accepted that he had resigned from his position in late 2004 albeit without notifying the Traffic Area Office. The TC said that Rowlands had been granted a one-vehicle licence in October 2004. There had been a number of serious convictions which had not been notified. Rowlands had been twice convicted of speeding in 2005.

In 2006 he was twice convicted of speeding and of using a vehicle without insurance. In 2007 he was convicted of driving a vehicle prohibited for a drivers' hours offence, failing to issue a tachograph chart, failing to produce tachograph charts at the roadside, fraudulently altering an excise licence and using more vehicles than he was licensed for. In 2008 Rowlands had been convicted of driving a vehicle while using a mobile phone.

For Pritchard, Kathryn Lucas said that he met Rowlands in 2004 when they were both working for L E Jones. Rowlands had  said he was applying for a licence and asked Pritchard to act as his transport manager for £100 a month. Pritchard agreed but subsequently lost contact with Rowlands. When he eventually managed to get in touch Rowlands arranged to meet at Llanygai Service Station and not at his operating centre.

Despite a number of meetings Rowlands failed to provide any records apart from two tachograph charts and one inspection sheet. He failed to make any payment to Pritchard. Pritchard was not prepared to be a transport manager in name only and resigned. Rowlands said that he would notify the Traffic Area Office and send Pritchard a copy of the form which he neglected to do.

Indicating that Pritchard had kept his repute by "a hair's breadth", the TC said that if a transport manager did not notify the TC they had resigned they could not expect to be absolved from problems with the licence. In this case he accepted that Pritchard was not involved with the operation when the significant problems arose and he took account of the fact that he had acted as transport manager for North Wales Carriers since 2005 without any problem.