7:28 am, August 20, 2022
A used car salesman has been handed a £6,000 fine after he admitted selling a dangerous car that was ‘not fit for the road’.
Mark Roberts, pleaded guilty to a string of offences related to the sale of a second-hand Nissan Pathfinder from Fleet Cars Direct in Doncaster.
The 61-year-old admitted to using misleading advertising, selling a vehicle in a dangerous state and misleading the buyer about the mileage.
The Sheffield Star reports he also sold the customer, who complained to Doncaster council’s trading standards office, a suspect warranty.
Among the lies he told the customer was that the vehicle was suitable for towing a caravan, when that was not the case.
Roberts has now appeared at Sheffield Crown Court where judge, Jeremy Richardson QC, said he had made ‘utterly erroneous and dangerous representations’.
The court heard that the complainant in the case was a family man with children who had seen the car advertised via Auto Trader.
Brian Outhwaite, prosecuting, told the hearing that the advert described the vehicle as being in ‘excellent’ condition and coming with a 12-month MOT as well as a full service history.
However, when the unnamed victim went to the dealership, he spotted rust on the wheel arches resulting in Roberts reducing the price from £4,590 to £4,300.
He also bought the dodgy warranty for an additional £595, but noticed when he got home that it only applied to 10-year-old vehicles and not the 12-year-old Pathfinder.
In response to the allegations, Dale Harris, defending, said Roberts was a man of previous good character who had never been in court before.
After hearing all of the evidence, Judge Richardson fined the defendant £6,000 and ordered him to pay costs totalling £7,395.
He said: ‘In my judgement this is a serious example of a secondhand car salesman conducting his business operations in a comprehensively dangerous and illegal manner.
‘He is the architect of his own misfortune and let this be a very clear warning to any rapacious, crooked second-hand car salesmen,’ he added.
‘In effect he was sold a worthless, old jalopy that should never have been on the road and that should never have been sold. The vehicle was dangerous.’
Pictured: Sheffield Crown Court (PA Images)
