Suspended jail sentences for dodgy car salesman and director
A DODGY Loughborough car salesman and his director who made thousands of pounds from selling defective cars - including a Mini Cooper made up of four vehicles welded together - have been spared jail after repaying the people they ripped off.
The “greedy” pair sold the vehicles at Granth Cars, in Belgrave, Leicester, and were investigated by trading standards after 11 complaints were made within six months of them going into business together in May 2015.
Harsikander Dhillon was director of the company, based in Catherine Street, Leicester.
He was responsible for buying eight defective cars and selling them on for sometimes thousands of pounds more than they were worth.
His salesman, Barry Porter, of Limetree Grove, Loughborough was jointly responsible for seven of those sales, which included a VW Golf that nearly caused an accident when it stalled suddenly on the M6 and a Fiat 500 that broke down seven times in two weeks, costing a carer her job.
The men were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on Monday, May 8, after a hearing last Friday during which Dhillon pleaded guilty to eight counts of engaging in a misleading commercial practice and Porter admitted seven similar charges.
The two men were spared prison sentences partly because Dhillon had, the court heard, already put £24,550 in a bank account to refund all eight customers, and the pair had agreed to pay £15,000 in court costs.
Recorder Timothy Walker gave both men suspended jail sentences, but said he noted the impact the pair’s crimes had on their victims’ lives, and the danger their actions had put customers in.
He described the Mini Cooper as “extremely dangerous”.
Recorder Walker said: “I’ve seen the photographs of the Mini and I don’t accept you didn’t know its condition. “The paintwork didn’t match.” Other aspects of the crimes he highlighted included a car that was advertised as having 89,600 miles on the clock when its odometer clearly showed 184,000 miles.
The cars all had MOT certificates from Leicester garages which they should not have been given.
Cameron Crowe, representing Dhillon, said last Friday that his client had: “relied on the expertise of others who were supposed experts and he ultimately failed to take the necessary steps to rectify further verification”.
Kevin Barry, representing Porter, said of his client: “He isn’t a mechanic. He did what he was told.”
Dhillon (34) of Blackroot Road, Sutton Coldfield, West Mildands, was given an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
Porter (54), of Limetree Grove, Loughborough, was given a sixmonth sentence, suspended for 14 months, as well as 160 hours of unpaid work.
Recorder Walker said: “You were acting with a disregard for your customers that was quite astounding. “You were greedy. “It must have become apparent you were acting unlawfully, but it better suited you to continue to act unlawfully. It plainly crosses the custody threshold.”