TRAFFIC COMMISSIONER HEARING

[BRIANTHESNAIL]

I am up in front of the traffic commissioner soon, because i am a bus driver who did not notify them about criminal convictions. These are now all spent, .... possesion firearms and section 20 wounding 12 months prison in 1998, and section 20 assault, fine and community punishment order in 2003....although i have been driving bus for almost 12 years without incident but a council official decided to grass me in for the convictions, any idea what the likely outcome of the hearing will be???

[loonytunes]

So you did not say, when asked, that you had convictions and then, you got another conviction while you were driving your bus but did not tell them you had acquired it? And you expect them to be sympathetic because you say the convictions are new spent? Losing your licence is, I suggest, the best you can expect. You were in a position of trust, btained by deceit, and it sounds like you were trying to get by until you could claim that they were "spent". Making a false declaration to obtain a licence is a criminal offence likely to get you convicted again. And you believe that it is all the fault of a council official who did what you should have done years ago? Your best course of action, to avoid further action, would be to surrender your licence now and move on.

[SlackAlice]

Loss of PCV entitlement on your licence and subsequently loss of job. I would assume you also had a renewal of your PCV and you omitted to declare the offences from the declaration on the renewal form.

Would suggest you resign now, whilst you can before being 'sacked'

[Buenchico]

You could have far more than your job to worry about. If, for example, an employer finds out that someone has lied on his cv it normally only results in dismissal (even though a criminal offence has been committed). With most occupations it would be very unusual for the matter to be reported to the police or CPS.

However when 'official' bodies, such as the Traffic Commissioners, are involved it's quite likely that the discovery of significant falsehoods could lead to prosecution. (The offence is now called 'fraud by false representation' but would have been 'obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception' at the time when you filled in the relevant paperwork). The maximum penalty in a magistrates' court is 12 months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5000. The maximum penalty in a Crown court is 10 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

Chris

[BRIANTHESNAIL]

You may be pleased to know that as from 2006 the police deal with informing the relevant licensing authority automatically as a person is charged with an offence, including minor traffic offences, this is a safeguard against "forgetful" people like myself.
Although i obtained my pcv license legally, it should have been revoked at the first offence, had i or my employer followed the correct procedure.
The irony of it is, had i never held a pcv license in the first place, as of 2008 i could have applied for a first pcv license with a clean slate and nothing to stop me obtaining one, albeit with limited use due to the strict safeguards in place to screen school bus drivers and various other contract services, wich involves enhanced checks into background, and any offences even very minor will exclude a driver from these contracts.