Two men from Weston-super-Mare who removed one and a
half million miles from cars they 'clocked' have been sentenced at
Bristol Crown Court (14 December).
Nathan Sutton (aged 40) from Park Place, in the town and Stephen
Peter Keeley, (48) of The Paddocks, Uphill had both pleaded guilty
at an earlier hearing in October.
The court heard that between December 2008 and November 2010 the
two purchased high mileage vehicles primarily from two large car
auctions, the odometers were then altered on the vehicles to show
less miles travelled (commonly known as clocking), and then MOT
certificates were obtained which confirmed the 'new' lower mileage,
often within weeks of a previous MOT.
They obtained blank service history books via the internet, and
dealership stamps to create forged service histories to support the
'new' mileage. Vehicles were offered for sale through Autotrader,
by the defendants, as private sellers. They were in fact traders,
so avoiding the responsibilities a trader has in law towards a
consumer.
The charges related to nine vehicles where the mileage had been
reduced by over 730,000 miles (approximately 82,000 miles per
vehicle). The total value of the sales made for these nine vehicles
was £55,650. However this was not the total extent of their
criminality. In addition, 10 further cars were 'taken into
consideration' bringing the total clocked miles to 1.5 million
miles for 19 vehicles. This equates to more than 60 times around
the world.
Following complaints from two people, trading standards began an
investigation, which led to the two men being arrested and their
home searched.
Despite being interviewed on a number of occasions, Sutton
claimed he had sold cars unaware of the mileage discrepancies
(although he subsequently pleaded guilty). His handwriting was also
identified in two service books used to mislead purchasers. It was
also found that he had 'sold on' vehicles having given
refunds to previous purchasers who discovered mileage
discrepancies.
Keeley admitted in interview that he and Sutton had got involved
in clocking vehicles. Items seized from his house included blank
service books, dealership stamps and mobile phones.
At Bristol Crown Court yesterday Sutton was sentenced to 52
weeks imprisonment suspended for two years plus 250 hours community
service; and Keeley received 48 weeks imprisonment suspended for
two years together with a six month curfew. Costs and compensation
are to be dealt with in April.
Cllr Peter Bryant, executive member whose portfolio includes
trading standards, said that very few consumers realised that they
had been scammed, as the fraud was carefully put together, with a
detailed false story to justify the reason for the sale. On the
whole, purchasers were unaware that digital odometers could be
tampered with.
"This was a sophisticated scam affecting consumers from all
walks of life. Few knew they had been conned. Many more consumers
may have been affected and remain unaware of their predicament.
"Not only is the car they bought worth less than they paid for
it, but many hidden maintenance issue can and have led to
substantial additional costs. The car's 'toxic' history will
significantly affect its resale value. The victims have said they
have lost faith in the safety of the cars they have bought and it
has had a psychological effect on them.
"I would like to congratulate our trading standards team for
undertaking a protracted investigation which has led to these two
men pleading guilty - this shows the quality of the evidence
gathered.
"This case should act as a warning that we will investigate and
prosecute. It should also act as a reminder to consumers to be on
their guard - there is lots of advice on the Consumer Direct
website and the Office of Fair Trading has recently launched a Know
Your Consumer Rights campaign to warn people about problems they
may encounter when buying a used car."
The Consumer Direct website address is
www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
or call them on 08454 04 05 06.
