11 February 2020

Mansel Davies haulage company fined £380,000 for false maintenance records

A Pembrokeshire haulage company has been landed with a £380,000 fine with £120,000 costs for forging lorry maintenance records which risked the safety of other road users.

Mansel Davies and Son Limited, based in Llanfyrnach, received the fine at Swansea Crown Court today (Tuesday 11 February) after pleading guilty to 19 offences of forgery and counterfeiting maintenance records from October to December 2017 at an earlier hearing.

Jonathan Phillips, 28 of Mynachlog-ddu who was an administrative assistant at the company, was also given a 9- month prison sentence suspeded for 2 years and has been ordered to pay £1,500 costs after pleading guilty to forging maintenance records.

The sentencing follows an investigation by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). The DVSA found the company was forging its lorry maintenance records to suggest it was carrying out its regular full vehicle examinations to meet the requirements of its operator licence.

A handwriting expert identified that 1 person within the company was writing the false records.

DVSA’s Head of National Enforcement Caroline Hicks said,

“DVSA’s priority is to protect everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles.

“This large company forged safety documents to deliberately avoid regular maintenance checks on their vehicles, this put the public and their employees at risk.

“We always pursue operators and push for the toughest penalties where there’s evidence they are cutting corners at the expense of road safety.”