A rogue car dealer has been sentenced to three years four months in prison after being found guilty of 14 counts relating to the fraudulent sales of cars from his garage in Thurcaston.
Lee David Graham Irons, of Hanover Drive, Sileby, was prosecuted by Leicestershire County Council’s Trading Standards after several complaints were received from customers who had bought cars from Irons’s business, Affordable Cars Thurcaston, which were found to be faulty.
Irons was convicted after a three-week trial at Leicester Crown Court, sitting at Loughborough Magistrates Court, where the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for the offences, as well as an additional sentence of four months to run consecutively for offending during a suspended prison sentence imposed in November 2020, resulting from a previous Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards prosecution for the same type of offences.
Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards investigated after receiving a number of complaints about the company. They found that between 4 March 2021 and 16 September 2022, 12 cars were sold to customers who subsequently complained to Trading Standards after they experienced problems with their cars which were not rectified by Irons.
In each case, the customers found problems with their cars shortly after buying them from Irons. One customer took the car back the day after she bought it. The customer did not receive a refund and Irons resold the car. Several other customers found that their service histories and MOT certificates had been falsified.
When Trading Standards officers visited the premises in Thurcaston, a number of unsafe vehicles were found advertised for sale. An examination of some of the vehicles bought by consumers which were the subject of complaints found that the cars were unsafe or unroadworthy.
Passing sentence, His Honour Judge Robert Brown said: “You were running a thoroughly dishonest business. You were cheating your customers. You were providing a service which was not just unprofessional, it was clearly fraudulent. The verdicts speak for themselves.
“Because you have been convicted, rather than plead guilty, I approach your sentence on the basis you have not shown a scintilla of remorse or contrition for your behaviour. Furthermore, in the conduct of your defence you have put to witness after witness the assertion that they are lying, that some of them have committed forgery, and that’s what they have been accused of on oath.
“I take into account the fact that you are a family man, you’ve got two children, I appreciate that, you want to rebuild your life in the plumbing trade that you were at before you went into the motor industry and you tell me that because of this, you have given up any desire to remain in the motor industry, I take that all into account."
The judge also praised the hard work of Leicestershire Trading Standards in investigating the case. He said: “These cases present a whole raft of different problems at different levels and I am very conscious, as we all are, that Trading Standards don’t have the level of resources the police can call upon, to do this kind of investigative work.
"There is an awful lot of work gone on here and the investigating officers have dug deep to find evidence and it’s a job very well done in my judgement, and I commend them all for it.”
Repeat offenders can expect a tough response from Trading Standards. This sentence sends a clear warning: those who commit fraud—often hiding behind fake businesses—could face prison.
Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards won’t hesitate to crack down on this kind of shameless and dishonest behaviour.
Person:Gary Connors, head of regulatory services
Complaints about second-hand cars can be reported to Leicestershire Trading Standards or Citizens Advice.