Garage owner who sold unsafe cars jailed

Lee Irons was convicted after a three-week trial at Leicester Crown Court

A garage owner who sold unsafe cars to customers, including some with false service history and MOT certificates, has been jailed.

Lee Irons, owner of Affordable Cars Thurcaston, in Leicestershire, sold faulty cars to buyers between March 2021 and September 2022, the county council's trading standards team found.

The team said it had received several complaints about the company after customers found problems with their cars shortly after buying them.

The 34-year-old, of Hanover Drive, Sileby, was found guilty of 14 counts of fraud and was sentenced to three years in prison at Leicester Crown Court on Friday.

He was also sentenced to an additional four months to run consecutively for offending during a suspended prison sentence imposed in November 2020, resulting from a previous trading standards prosecution for similar offences.

'Shameless' trading

Leicestershire County Council said its trading standards officers received complaints from 12 customers, who had experienced problems with their cars, which were not rectified by Irons.

One customer returned her car the day after she bought it but did not receive a refund, with Irons reselling the vehicle.

Several other customers found their service histories and MOT certificates were false.

An examination of the cars revealed they were unsafe or unroadworthy.

When officers visited the premises in Thurcaston, they also found a number of unsafe vehicles advertised for sale.

Gary Connors, head of regulatory services at the council, called Irons's behaviour "shameless and dishonest".