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Jail sentence and disqualification for rogue trader who defrauded customers of £9,500 (1 March 2017)

Date: 01/03/2017
Duncan Lewis, Crime Solicitors, Jail sentence and disqualification for rogue trader who defrauded customers of £9,500

A rogue trader from Manchester has been jailed for fraud, after customers in Oldham and surrounding areas complained to Trading Standards that kitchen components they had paid for were not supplied, fitted – or were found to be defective.

Paul Bottomley, 45, of Kingswood Road in Middleton, Rochdale, Greater Manchester was jailed for 20 months at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court, after pleading guilty to defrauding four individuals of £9,596.07.

Bottomley was also disqualified from being a company director for nine years.

Trading Standards launched an investigation after a number of residents from Oldham and the surrounding areas contacted them with complaints – in one case in 2015, a local resident paid more than £4,046 to Bottomley for granite kitchen work tops which never arrived.

Another alleged victim paid Bottomley more than £3,700 for the supply and fitting of a kitchen – the job was not completed and the buyer was left without any cooking or washing facilities.

During this time, Bottomley – who also used the name Paul Wright in a bid to evade investigators – had applied to Companies House to strike off his firm Smart Kitchens (UK) Ltd, based in Royton.

However, despite this, he continued to take money from consumers – knowing that the company was about to cease trading and he would not be able to fulfil orders.

During their investigation, Trading Standards officers found Bottomley had also traded under various guises – including Oldham Kitchens Limited, Cheaper Kitchens, Pauls Kitchens4U, Avour kitchens and bedrooms and Premier Glass Backs.

In total, Trading Standards received 24 complaints from the public about firms Bottomley was connected to – these involved non-delivery of goods following payment, poor workmanship, defective goods and safety issues.

In May 2012, Bottomley had received an eight-month sentence, which was suspended for 12 months, for committing five similar offences of fraud. He had also been given 200 hours of community service.

In passing sentence for the most recent offences, Her Honour Judge Nield said that fraud requires manipulation of others, which Bottomley was “an expert” in. She added that the offences had been “an appalling set of events” – and that Bottomley would have known and understood the impact his conduct would have had on the victims due to his previous conviction.

In Bottomley’s defence, it was said he had savings of £2,100, which he intended to use to repay to his victims. Judge Nield ordered that this be paid to the four victims, who were detailed on the indictment on a pro-rata basis, based on the value of the monies Bottomley obtained from them. The judge acknowledged that “this did not reflect their loss, and nor was it intended to, but this was the best that could be done”.

After sentencing, Oldham Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, Councillor Fida Hussain, said:

“Oldham Council’s Trading Standards department works hard to protect residents – and to ensure a level playing field for legitimate traders.The sentence in this case reflects the severity of the fraudulent practices and also the impact that this had upon the consumers.The team will continue to investigate allegations of unfair trading practices and take action where necessary.”

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