The Accessor Spring 2025 Web - Flipbook - Page 22
JOURNAL
FRAUD
INSTITUTE MEMBER
HELPS TO KEEP THE
PUBLIC SAFE FROM
“DODGY CAR
DEALER”
Mark Brown, M.Inst.A.E.A Automotive Engineer Assessor, Forensic Vehicle Examiner
& Expert Witness, at Mark Brown AEA, examined 21 cars on a recent case which hit
the headlines.
rogue car dealer has
been sentenced to
three years four months
in prison after being
found guilty of 14
counts relating to the fraudulent sales
of cars from his garage in Thurcaston.
A
Lee David Graham Irons from Sileby,
was prosecuted by Leicestershire
County Council’s Trading Standards
after several complaints were received
from customers who had bought cars
from Irons’s business, Affordable Cars
Thurcaston, which were found to be
faulty.
Irons was convicted 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,
resulting from a previous Leicestershire
County Council Trading Standards
prosecution for the same type of
offences.
Mark worked with Leicestershire
County Council’s Trading Standards
team. Mark told The Assessors Journal,
“I examined 21 cars, 昀椀ve of them were
complete exams of the like I have
been doing as Gloucestershire Police’s
forensic Vehicle Examiner over the
last three years, and the rest quick but
fairly detailed assessments during a
premises raid.”
Court for a week under
cross-examination.
Leicestershire County Council Trading
Standards investigated after receiving
a number of complaints about the
company. They found that between 4
March 2021 and 16 September 2022,
12 cars were sold to customers who
subsequently complained to Trading
Standards after they experienced
problems with their cars which were
not recti昀椀ed by Irons.
In each case, the customers found
problems with their cars shortly after
buying them from Irons. One customer
took the car back the day after she
bought it. The customer did not
receive a refund and Irons resold the
car. Several other customers found
that their service histories and MOT
certi昀椀cates had been falsi昀椀ed.
When Trading Standards of昀椀cers
visited the premises in Thurcaston, a
number of unsafe vehicles were found
advertised for sale. An examination
of some of the vehicles bought by
consumers which were the subject of
complaints found that the cars were
unsafe or unroadworthy.
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.”
The judge also praised the hard 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 of昀椀cers have
dug deep to 昀椀nd 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, 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.”
JOURNAL
www.markbrownaea.co.uk
Mark Gave evidence in the Crown
22
THE ASSESSORS JOURNAL | SPRING 2025 | www.iaea-online.org/news/the-assessor
