William Stobart, the deputy chief executive officer of the Culina Group, which owns logistics company Eddie Stobart, has been fined £600 and had his license endorsed after admitting to not being in “proper control” of his Land Rover Range Rover Sport, reports Metro.
The 61-year-old businessman appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to a single count of being in a position that does not give proper control. This was instead of the initial charge of using a hand-held device, namely an iPad, while driving, which was dismissed.
The offense occurred on July 5th of last year while Stobart was driving on the M6 northbound near Birmingham. In addition to the fine, he was also ordered to pay a £240 victim surcharge and £135 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Interestingly, as Metro pointed out in its report, despite the punishment, William Stobart would still be eligible to join his company’s HGV driving academy. Recruits must have no more than three penalty points on their licence and have no drink-driving convictions in the last 5 years.
Photo credits @ deathpallie325, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (photo cropped and used for illustrative purposes only)