7:08 am, June 17, 2024
A used car dealer in Omagh who advertised and sold clocked vehicles must pay almost £8,000 to his victims.
SMC Cars & Commercials director Samuel McConnell, of Learden Road, Gortin, pleaded guilty at Newry Crown Court on Friday to five charges under the Fraud Act 2006.
In the same case, SMC sales executive Ryan McKittrick, of Bearney Road, Strabane, also admitted five charges under the same act.
A customer complaint alleging that SMC Cars & Commercials was selling clocked vehicles sparked a probe by the Department for the Economy’s Trading Standards Service (TSS).
Its investigations revealed that the Learden Road-based used car dealership had sold people four vehicles with reduced mileages – with one of the cars having their odometer clocked by almost 52,000 miles.
One of them was also a Category N write-off, while another – which also had a false service history – was readvertised with the fake mileage after the buyer returned it to the dealership because of the discrepancy.
The vehicles uncovered in the probe were:
- A Peugeot 208 bought by a customer who saw it advertised by the car dealer on Gumtree with 89,000 miles. However, evidence obtained by the TSS revealed that it had travelled at least 120,597 miles
- A Mercedes advertised on Gumtree with 92,000 miles when it had a previous recorded mileage of 120,178 miles. It was also a Category N write-off, which the customer wasn’t told about before buying the car
- A VW Scirocco with a previous mileage of 172,980 miles reduced to 121,180 miles – a discrepancy of 51,800 miles
- An Audi A3 sold with 125,000 miles on the clock, having previously travelled 148,028 miles
The A3, which also had a false service history, had been returned to SMC Cars & Commercials because of the mileage discrepancy, but the dealership then readvertised it on Gumtree with the incorrect mileage.
A compensation order totalling £7,920 was awarded to the four victims, to be paid within 12 weeks. McConnell, 28, was also ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service within 12 months.
McKittrick, 24, must undertake 240 hours of community service, to be completed within a year.
After the case, the TSS’s Eavan Dunlop said: ‘The number of vehicles uncovered by this investigation and the degree by which their mileages had been altered points to a systematic ‘‘clocking’’ operation by the two individuals.
‘Cars were purchased with high mileages and subsequently sold to unsuspecting consumers with lower mileages.
‘With the rising prices of second-hand cars, it is vitally important that consumers have confidence in local car dealerships.
‘Car traders have a legal responsibility to ensure that all descriptions applied to vehicles are accurate and not misleading to consumers.
‘The Trading Standards Service remains committed to investigating those car traders that attempt to take advantage of consumers.’
Stock image used for illustrative purposes
