Freight company fined €8,000 for using false driver card and breaching rest rules

A freight company has been fined €8,000 at Carrick-on-Shannon District Court on Tuesday, 21st May 2025, after one of its drivers was found using another man’s tachograph card to hide rest break violations, in what the judge described as a “deliberate and dangerous” attempt to bypass EU road safety rules.

Mourne Freight Services Limited from Newry, was prosecuted by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) following an investigation that revealed the company’s employee, Robert Barnwell, had repeatedly used a second driver card—belonging to another man who retired—to conceal driving beyond legal limits and to fake compliance with mandatory rest requirements.

RSA officer Mrs. Jordan gave detailed evidence of how the deception was discovered. “At first glance, Mr. Barnwell’s own driver card looked perfectly clean,” she said. “But once we examined the full tachograph records, we realised that a second card was being used to fill the gaps—effectively making it appear that he was resting when in fact he was still driving.”

She described the activity as a clear manipulation of the digital tachograph system. “This wasn’t a clerical error. This was strategic. It was done to avoid detection.” The investigation focused on activity between 2nd and 11th January 2024, during which time Mr. Barnwell was recorded exceeding maximum driving hours and failing to take legally required rest periods. “These regulations are not bureaucratic,” Mrs. Jordan stressed. “They are there to protect drivers and the public from fatigue-related crashes.”

Mourne Freight Services had been officially notified of the charges but had failed to engage with the investigation or attend the hearing. Judge Brendan O’Reilly said the lack of engagement was “noted and disappointing” given the seriousness of the charges. He described the conduct of the driver—and by extension the employer—as posing a direct risk to public safety. “These charges are not just regulatory,” Judge O’Reilly said. “They relate to the manipulation of driver data, the misuse of an official card, and a failure to ensure a driver was taking proper rest. These are not minor matters. They go to the heart of road safety.”

The judge said he was satisfied that the RSA had met the threshold for conviction on all eight charges and noted that there were no previous convictions on record. However, he emphasized that the breaches were serious in nature. “I am convicting on all eight counts,” he said. “And I am imposing a fine of €1,000 on each, for a total of €8,000. This reflects both the gravity of the offences and the complete lack of engagement by the employer.” The company was granted three months to pay the fines.

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