A Perth businessman who was the subject of a £106,000 confiscation order following his conviction for drug offences has been dealt another blow.
Callum Menzies, 51, is to be banned from running vehicles for his skip hire business and, in a separate action, his wife Wendy has had her waste carrier registration revoked.
The owner of Fair City Skip Hire is set to have his vehicle licence revoked, after Scotland’s traffic commissioner concluded she was not confident he would comply with licensing regulations in the future.
In a written decision issued after a public inquiry, Joan Aitken made an order to revoke the operator’s licence held by Mr Menzies with effect from Monday.
Miss Aitken also directed that Mr Menzies would be disqualified from holding a licence in Scotland, Wales or England for a period of one year.
The hearing, which took place in Edinburgh, was called to examine convictions reported for Mr Menzies and his wife, Wendy Menzies.
The regulator heard Mr Menzies had been convicted for drug offences and that both he and his wife had been prosecuted for environmental offences in connection with the Fair City Skip Hire business.
During questioning by the commissioner, Mr Menzies initially said he was running his business with his wife, as a partnership. However, when Miss Aitken explained he did not have a licence to run vehicles with his wife, Mr Menzies told her that he was planning to dissolve the partnership and become a sole trader again.
He also admitted that he had been made bankrupt in 2011 and that he had only recently been discharged. The bankruptcy had followed a Proceeds of Crime Order. That order had related to him personally and not his business.
Responding to questions on why he had failed to notify these changes to his business status and the convictions Mr Menzies told the commissioner he was a skip man, not a pen pusher. He realised he had made mistakes and added that he maintained the lorry and had no overloading convictions.
In her written decision, Miss Aitken concluded that Mr Menzies had disregarded the material requirements in his role as the licence holder and had incurred convictions.
“Quite self-servingly, he rode two horses continuing to use the licence granted by me when I knew nothing of his changed circumstances and using SEPA licences granted to his wife,” she said.
“I struggle to believe that he will be compliant in the future, for his immediate thought on my mentioning revocation and disqualification was to have his wife apply for an operator’s licence. This is untenable thinking.”
In a separate action the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) revoked the Waste Carriers Registration and Waste Management Licence for Wendy Menzies, who held them in respect of Fair City Skips, situated at Lower Friarton Road, Perth.
This followed a conviction for waste offences and failure to pay the required subsistence charges. As a result, she can no longer carry waste as part of her business, and waste cannot be kept or treated at that location.
Mrs Menzies pleaded guilty last year to burning waste at her site, despite a condition in her waste management licence that expressly banned the practice. She was fined £2,250 at Perth Sheriff Court.
Following her conviction, SEPA said that they did not consider Mrs Menzies to be a “fit and proper person”, a requirement to hold a Waste Management Licence.
Colin Anderson, SEPA area manager, said they had not taken the decision lightly, but felt it was the only action left to them.