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A FURNITURE company boss who preyed on elderly and disabled customers has been jailed for 32 months after he was convicted on 31 charges of fraud and unfair trading.

David Waters, pictured, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, was sentenced on Thursday following a three-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court. The 71year-old and his salesmen promised specially made beds and chairs costing thousands of pounds. But the court heard Waters would often pocket a large deposit then fail to provide the goods or a refund.

Judge Emma Peters told Waters that he was cheating victims who could not afford to lose thousands of pounds.

She added: ‘These people suffered and cannot afford to buy another chair or bed. They were left feeling very stupid as a result of being taken in.’

She banned Waters from any future role in a mobility aids firm, and from selling any product in a home visit.

Trading Standards investigator Stuart Hughes, who led the case, cited ‘the callous attitude Waters exhibited by exploiting elderly, vulnerable or disabled customers’. A future hearing will consider compensation. This is not Waters’ first offence. In 2013, he and his son Oliver were fined for aggressive and misleading sales tactics. In 2015 his then firm Westminster Recliners admitted breaching consumer protection laws. In 2016, I warned that Waters had set up a new firm, Anchor Mobility. It is this firm’s misconduct that has led him to court and to jail.