A Somerset-based used car dealer has been ordered by a judge to pay more than £7,000 in costs after being sentenced for a series of offences.
Malvin Price was sentenced on July 11 at Taunton Crown Court for breaches of Consumer Protection legislation.
In total he will have to pay £7,365, made up of £6,045 in compensation, fines of £650, and costs of £500 and a victim surcharge of £170.
An investigation and the subsequent prosecution followed a number of complaints about the sales and services provided by Price.
The offences, which occurred over a period from 2015 to 2017, included contravening the requirements of professional diligence, acting aggressively toward a consumer.
Mis-described vehicles
The court heard from victims who had purchased vehicles from or had arranged for the storage or repair of their vehicles with Price between June 2015 and July 2017.
The charges include two vehicles described by Price as having a valid or significant period of MOT which they did not.
One vehicle sold through eBay was not delivered or refunded by Price.
Another victim made payment for a new engine for which neither the work had been undertaken or the vehicle returned to its owner, and a refund had not been received.
Stephen Gardiner, interventions manager for Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading standards, said: “We’re pleased to have got orders for some money back for some of the victims in this case.
“We won’t tolerate traders who try to avoid liabilities by reacting to valid complaints with deliberate aggression, as was the case here.”
“There will be consequences”
Councillor David Hall of Somerset County Council said: “It’s important that traders know that when they fail to comply with the regulations, there will be consequences and where possible the victims of any breaches will be compensated if they are out of pocket.”
Price had previously been prosecuted in 2016 for Trading Standards offences when he falsely sold vehicles described as having “new clutch and brakes”.
He was ordered then to pay a total of £4,250 in fines and damages to the victims.