Fraud accused ‘must have known he was exposing customers to risk’
THE jury in a fraud trial have been urged to set aside any emotion or sympathy they may have towards the accused.
Car dealer Gwyn Meirion Roberts, who owned Menai Vehicle Solutions, denies a charge of fraudulent trading and 24 separate counts of fraud and is standing trial at Caernarfon Crown Court.
The 50-year-old, of Dolgoed, Llandudno Junction, is said to have taken money and vehicles in part exchange for new cars from customers during 2015. But the vehicles were not delivered and the customers did not receive their money back before the company folded in October that year with debts of more than £1.3m.
Defence counsel John Philpotts asked the jury to set aside any emotions they may feel, noting there is no place for emotion in a criminal court.
Roberts doesn’t ask for sympathy about the state of the business, his own health and the illness affecting his father in the summer of 2015, the barrister said.
Mr Philpotts told the jury they had seen and heard from Roberts and asked they judge him on the evidence presented during the trial.
He reminded the jury it is the prosecution that have decided to accuse Gwyn Meirion Roberts of being a fraudster.
They have left no stone unturned to bring the case to court, he noted, but added there had been not one word from those customers who received their vehicles during 2015.
The barrister also asked the jury to set aside any sympathy they may feel for some of the customers.
Mr Philpotts said Roberts intended to honour all the deals he had agreed. He reminded the jury he was delivering vehicles to customers up until the day before the company ceased trading.
Roberts had offered deals in order to create momentum to keep the business going, the barrister added.
Concluding his closing address to the jury, Matthew Corbett Jones, prosecuting, said Roberts must have known he was exposing customers to risk “at the very least”.
Earlier, the judge had outlined the legal directions the jury needed to follow while deliberating their evidence.
He said the prosecution case was that the defendant was deliberately dishonest while the defence argued Roberts was trying to keep his business afloat during the summer of 2015 and fully intended to honour the deals he had agreed with his customers.
Judge Rees told the jury to note the statements of two witnesses that were read to them during the trial but were not agreed. Alvin Roberts and Louise McCann, were unable to attend because of medical issues. Had they been present in court their evidence would have been challenged by the defence barrister.
Roberts, the judge added, had contradicted the evidence of Ms McCann, his bookkeeper, during his own evidence.
After the closing speeches the judge began summarising the evidence. He was expected to conclude this process yesterday as the Mail went to press.