Dorothy Bain QC representing the family of Jacqueline Morton asked if Mr Clarke could be charged with offences south of the border.
He said that it was something that “would be considered” by DVLA but emphasised it had not been decided.
Yesterday (August 12) Miss Bain put to Dr Gareth Parry, a senior medical advisor to DVLA, that given DVLA’s head office is in Swansea that there is “jurisdiction for the Crown Prosecution Service to consider criminal proceedings.”
The witness replied: “That’s my understanding of matters.”
The lawyer then confirmed that “at the moment that’s still under consideration” and he answered “yes”.
Dr Parry was asked by Miss Bain if anybody had been prosecuted for making a false declaration to DVLA.
He said that when he joined the company he was told nobody had been.
Miss Bain put to him: “It might be a good way to bring home to people to make a truthful declaration on your D4 form, would be to prosecute robustly and rigorously those who make a false declaration.”
The witness replied: “Yes, I would agree, there’s an argument.”
The inquiry heard that prosecuting people if they don’t tell the truth and potentially jailing them “might have a very powerful effect”.
Aggravation
The witness was asked: “In the context of a man who is a professional driver taking on board vulnerable individuals on a vehicle, would you as a DVLA representative consider that an aggravation?”
He replied: “Yes.”
Miss Bain asked if he would consider it an aggravation if he transported children with special needs, and he said that he did.
She asked: “Would you consider that a relevant factor to take into account in providing any report to the prosecuting authorities?”
He said that he would.
The inquiry before sheriff John Beckett QC continues.
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