Paul Stevens of Kinmel Bay failed to attend a conduct hearing last month and also failed to attend an earlier hearing to consider the operator’s licence held by Andrew and Elizabeth Hughes, trading as Wasteaters.
Nick Jones, traffic commissioner for Wales, heard that DVSA examiners stopped Stevens in December as the vehicle had no external mirrors, and were told it was his first day of driving.
However, there were entries in the driver defect book for October and November – Stevens refused to answer questions about his duties and employer. The examiner also identified 10 tachograph records for Stevens in October and November.
The traffic commissioner said Stevens’ refusal to say who he worked for was “an especially serious issue”, adding: “I regard it as wholly unacceptable for examiners to be misled this way.”
Jones added that Stevens “would have known that the vehicle was defective and chose to drive it with known defects.
“Mr Stevens has worked for a number of years for a rogue operator, he knew that his employer was a rogue and this contributed to his decision to obstruct the DVSA when stopped, including refusing to give details of his employer, lying about how long he had worked for his employer and generally obstructing the DVSA in its investigations.”
The order to disqualify Stevens from professional driving took effect on 3 July 2017.