2:46 pm, January 3, 2023
A prolific fraudster conned a used car dealer out of £15,000 by pretending to act as a go-between with an auction centre.
The unnamed centre in Newcastle collected four cars from the North Yorkshire dealership but David Paterson pocketed the money from the sale of three of them and vanished.
According to the York Press, the used car dealer told York Crown Court, pictured, that his cash flow had been affected and the scam had had a negative effect on the company at what was described as ‘a crucial stage’ during its development.
He was also now far more suspicious of anyone suggesting a business relationship.
Paterson, 57, had originally got in touch with the unnamed dealer about car sales in October 2017, and initially there wasn’t a problem.
But the troubles subsequently began in January 2018 when he suggested acting as an intermediary with the auction centre.
Paterson told the dealer two weeks later that of the four cars collected by the auction centre, three had been sold and the proceeds would be deposited in his account.
The cash didn’t turn up, though, and the York Press said Paterson then told the dealer on February 18 the money had mistakenly gone into his own account and would be transferred the same day.
Again, though, there was no sign of it, and attempts by the car dealer to contact Paterson came to nothing.
He was eventually traced to the Isle of Wight and arrested in June, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.
Paterson admitted theft, saying he’d ‘only stolen £15,000’ and hadn’t intended to steal it originally.
He also tried claiming that the deal was for all the money to be given when all the cars had been sold.
The court had been told Paterson blamed his long-running dishonest behaviour on post-traumatic stress disorder following being kidnapped and held hostage for four weeks, with £250,000 taken from his bank account.
However, Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, wanted evidence to back Paterson’s claims, so the case was adjourned.
At the subsequent hearing, he gave Paterson a 12-month jail sentence suspended for a year.
Paterson, whose address was given as Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, must complete 15 days of rehabilitative activities plus 250 hours of unpaid work.
Unspecified legal reasons were cited for delays in bringing the case to trial.
The court was told Paterson had fraud convictions stretching back to 2008, had been guilty of VAT evasion as well, and jailed several times. Police had 10 aliases for him, too.
Main image via PA
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