§ Mr. OnslowTo ask the Attorney-General what action the Lord Chancellor is taking, in his capacity as chairman of the Magistrates Association, to draw magistrates' attention to the conclusions of the report of the National Audit Office concerning the financial advantage of regularly overloading a 38-tonne vehicle relative to the national average fine imposed for such an offence.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Lord Chancellor, in his capacity as president of the Magistrates Association, will take the opportunity of expressing his personal views on this matter on a suitable occasion when addressing members of the association. When addressing west midlands magistrates in July 1986, Lord Chancellor Hailsham said, referring in particular to offences of overloading commercial vehicles
Where the motive is profit and the rewards are high, a swingeing fine may be the right penalty or the offender will simply recou himself in a very short time by further offences.This was reported in the November 1986 issue of The Magistrate.