Accused of forcing two OAPs to buy homes
A caravan park owner has been accused of forcing two old-age pensioners to buy residential mobile homes from him, one by providing misleading information and another by acting aggressively and threatening eviction.
Fifty-seven-year-old Cresswell Welch, of Seaton View, Seaton Road, Arbroath, is also said to have conned another OAP out of almost £80,000 by lying about the age of the home she eventually bought.
Four of the six charges he faced on indictment at Perth Sheriff Court are alleged to have taken place at Marlee Gardens, Marlee Loch Residential Park, Kinloch, near Blairgowrie.
It is alleged that between September 1 and December 23, 2016, while acting with another unnamed person, Welch misled 74-year-old John Robertson about the age and warranty of a mobile home he proposed to purchase from him.
The accused is said to have withheld “material information”by falsely stating the home was two years old and omitting to display the manufacture year information plate, causing him to buy the home.
A second charge is claimed to have taken place, again at Marlee Gardens, between August 31, 2017, and May 31, 2018.
Welch is said to have“harassed and coerced and placed undue influence”on 72-year-old Anthony Steven to buy a residential home of a type, specification and style other than that he wished to purchase.
He is said to have done that by coercing him to make payment, against his wishes, by acting in an aggressive manner, repeatedly threatening him with eviction and threatening to destroy construction work which had already been undertaken.
A third charge is said to have taken place at Kinloch and Seaton View between December 19, 2017, and June 1, 2018, while acting with another person.
Welch is accused of misleading James Wadman about the age of a mobile home he proposed to buy by“withholding material information”from him, thus causing him buy the home.
Between these same dates, and at the same two locations, Welch is said to have harassed, coerced and placed undue influence on Mr Wardman to accept a mobile home of the style other than that he wished to purchase and coerced him into accepting it by acting in a threatening and abusive manner.
A fifth charge alleges that Welch duped Martin and Senga Burke into buying a mobile home from him by misleading them about its age - and the site fees.
That is alleged to have taken place at Arbroath on November 9, 2018. He is said to have falsely stated that the mobile home was one year old and that the site fees were £2000 a year, causing them to purchase the home.
The final charge is claimed to have taken place at the Seaton Estate, Seaton Road, Arbroath, on May 29, 2016, while acting with another.
He is accused of pretending to 74-yearold Johan Bruce that the mobile home she proposed to purchase was 10 months old, while he knew it was approximately three years old, and defrauded her of £79,500 by inducing her to make the purchase.
The charges have been brought under the 2008 Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and the European Communities Act, 1972.
Welch did not appear at the latest court hearing but was represented by Perth lawyer Pauline Cullerton.
The case was continued to June 3.