FLEET managers and company bosses have been warned that action could be taken against them if they don't manage road risk correctly following the sentencing of two directors of Roy Bowles Transport - Stephen Bowles and his sister Julie Bowles - after they were convicted on manslaughter charges in November. The pair were jailed for 15 months and 12 months respectively, with both sentences suspended for two years.

The prosecution as brought after one of directors' drivers fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle and caused the death of two other motorists. The Old Bailey heard that the systems used to monitor drivers' hours were 'wholly inadequate'. The driver - Andrew Cox - was jailed for two-and-a-half years and banned from driving for two years. Fleet Driver Training Association's chairman James Sutherland said: 'Tragic though this incident is, at least it may help to save hundreds of lives by bringing home the message that directors and managers will now be held responsible and in extreme cases jailed if they push drivers too hard and fail to take into account the extra risks this creates to employees and other road users.'