Rogue bed traders must pay £917,000 over scam

A HUSBAND and wife convicted of consumer protection offences against vulnerable people have been ordered to pay back £917,287.

Claire Wray, 38, and Paul Wray, 51, both of Clayton Wood Close, Adel, Leeds, received prison sentences in March last year following their convictions.

They mis-sold mattresses, beds and mobility equipment to elderly consumers through their company Dreamwell Limited.

Claire Wray, the sole director of the company, received 12 months in prison after being found guilty of misleading, banned and aggressive commercial practices and money laundering.

She was also disqualified from being a company director for seven years.

Her husband, Paul Wray, company secretary for Dreamwell Ltd, was sentenced to 28 months for illegal commercial practices .

He was disqualified from being a company director for nine years.

Recorder Mohammed Iqbal, QC, ordered that a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order be paid within three months or the Wrays could face a further six years in jail.

He also ordered that compensation totalling £20,757 be paid to victims from the confiscated sum.

The Wrays were arrested in 2014 following more than 50 complaints.

Investigators found that canvassers acting on behalf of Dreamwell misled elderly consumers into believing that they were carrying out market research, when in fact they were arranging appointments for sales staff to visit them in their own homes.

Consumers gave information about their medical history, which was later used by sales staff to mis-sell mobility-related products.

Sales staff were trained by Paul Wray to engage in aggressive commercial practices to sell mobility-related products.

In one instance, the salesperson stayed in the consumer’s home more than six hours.

Sales staff took advantage of the frailty and vulnerability of their customers, even visiting consumers with dementia and Alzheimer’s.