Man fined hundreds of pounds over unroadworthy vehicle

Truck had faulty lights, serious corrosion and ABS defects

A man whose vehicle was found to have at least ten illegal faults has been fined.

Forty-seven-year-old William Hedley Graham pleaded guilty to having a dangerous or unroadworthy vehicle via a coroner’s admission before magistrates at Douglas Courthouse.

Hedley, of no fixed abode, owned a Ford Transit tipper which police saw parked in Castle Mona Avenue in Douglas at 11am on Friday, 12 July.

Officers carried out some initial checks on the vehicle’s condition, and were so shocked they called expert examiners from the Department of Infrastructure.

Prosecution advocate Barry Swain told magistrates the tipper was inspected at the DoI testing facility in Tromode.

Staff there found most of its lights were faulty, its windscreen was severely scratched and had no working washer, and there was serious corrosion to bodywork and its chassis.

There were also defects in seatbelts, the vehicle’s ABS system and examiners found its tailboard had been held in place with string.

Graham didn't enter any mitigation on his behalf.

Magistrates imposed three penalty points on his driving licence, fined him £600 and ordered him to pay £50 towards prosecution costs.