Young farmer and court relieved to learn that six points would not lead to automatic driving ban
A farmer who called his dad to check when he passed his HGV driving test was relieved to find he would not face a ban.
Magistrates and legal advisors who were sitting at Telford Magistrates Court on Wednesday were also relieved when George Alister Billington came back into court to give them the news.
After initially hearing that Billington, aged 26, of Folly Road, Ackleton, had passed his HGV test in 2021 the court had been unable to resolve a sticky point of law.
If a driver receives six penalty points two years after they pass their car driving test they automatically lose their licence.
But the court could not find the answer to whether this applies to a recent HGV licence holder who had passed their car driving test some years ago.
Billington had passed his car driving test at the age of 17/18, he said, and had driven on farms before then.
Mr Billington, who had pleaded guilty to failing to provide information about the driver of a lorry where an offence was alleged in Plymouth, Devon, in November 2022, said he would lose his job and ability to feed his family if it was lost.
Billington had been convicted in his absence and the case was sent to Telford Magistrates Court for sentencing.
He said: "I don't understand these things I'm just a farmer."
