A car dealer who sold substandard vehicles – some with falsified service histories and MOT certificates – has received a prison sentence of more than three years after an investigation by Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards.
Lee David Graham Irons, trading as Affordable Cars Thurcaston, came to the attention of Trading Standards when customers complained about unsafe and unroadworthy vehicles they had purchased from him.
Investigating Officers found that between 4 March 2021 and 16 September 2022, 12 cars were sold to customers who subsequently experienced problems which were not rectified by Irons.
In each case, problems were identified shortly after the vehicles were purchased. One customer took the car back the day after she bought it but did not receive a refund – and Irons resold the car to another customer.
Several other customers found that their service histories and MOT certificates had been falsified, and when Trading Standards Officers visited the business premises, they found several unsafe vehicles advertised for sale.
Irons was convicted of 14 counts relating to the fraudulent sales of cars 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 – the result of a previous Leicestershire Trading Standards prosecution for the same type of offences.
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.”
The judge also praised the 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.”
Gary Connors, head of regulatory services at Leicestershire County Council, said: “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.”
