A stairlift fraudster from Plymouth has been jailed for 14 months after he admitted conning elderly people out of thousands of pounds.Nigel Warren Roach posed as a stairlift repairer and falsely advised that products were irreparable, getting customers to order expensive and unnecessary replacements which were then not supplied, the court heard.
The court was told that the 35-year-old, from Peverell, was brought to the attention of trading standards in June 2005 when a complaint was made by an elderly couple who had been deprived of their savings and left stranded without access to all floors in their home.
He was investigated by Devon County Council and spokesman Brian Berman said Roach "cynically set out to deceive the elderly and disabled"."He took large sums of money from people for stairlifts and then didn't supply them," he said."In some cases he also took away their existing stairlift leaving them with no means of accessing the first floor of their homes."This case sends a clear warning signal to rogue traders across the region that this type of dishonest practice will not be tolerated."
Some 13 offences related to breaches of the Theft Act, Trade Descriptions Act, Consumer Protection Act, Fair Trading Act and Forgery and Counterfeiting Act. In total, Roach tricked customers out of £4,000.At Plymouth Crown Court, Judge Francis Gilbert QC also gave the police permission to investigate him under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The Dolphin Stair Lifts blog. For more information on any of our stairlifts please call us on 0800 9800 126.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Guardian Capital Letters
Taken from the Capital Letters section of the Guardian newspaper website.
Fighting Churchills on the breaches of promise
My wife died, unexpectedly, last November. Just before that happened, I had sent a £295 annual maintenance fee to Churchills Stairlifts which had supplied and fitted the second-hand chairlift she used. We paid £2,009 for it 12 months previously.
After her death, I had no use for the lift - I very much wanted it out. And I had no use for the 2006-07 maintenance contract, which had not started at the time she last used it.
We had been promised a £450 guaranteed buyback and the removal of the stairlift. When I told Churchills what had happened, I was told I would get a maintenance plan refund. But nothing at all has happened. What is going on?
DD Middlesex
You bought the second-hand and very over-priced lift from Churchills Stairlifts PLC, which was run by Craig James Paterson. This firm went into liquidation two months later, ending its £495 buyback. This would have been reduced anyway by the very small print £295 removal fee, leaving £200 - which was built into the price you paid in the first place.
Paterson has been a director of nine dissolved or liquidated companies including Stairlift Rentals, Air Quality, Paterson Security Services and Hi-Security.
When Churchills Stairlifts PLC went bust, the liquidators sold some of the assets (but not the company Aston Martin and helicopter) to an unconnected company, Churchill's Stairlifts UK, run by accountant Robert Kane and ultimately part of a Dutch group.
Mr Kane told Capital Letters that he is working to restore the firm's reputation with a mix of better service and lower cost appliances. He will remove your unwanted stairlift and return your maintenance fee as a goodwill gesture.
Fighting Churchills on the breaches of promise
My wife died, unexpectedly, last November. Just before that happened, I had sent a £295 annual maintenance fee to Churchills Stairlifts which had supplied and fitted the second-hand chairlift she used. We paid £2,009 for it 12 months previously.
After her death, I had no use for the lift - I very much wanted it out. And I had no use for the 2006-07 maintenance contract, which had not started at the time she last used it.
We had been promised a £450 guaranteed buyback and the removal of the stairlift. When I told Churchills what had happened, I was told I would get a maintenance plan refund. But nothing at all has happened. What is going on?
DD Middlesex
You bought the second-hand and very over-priced lift from Churchills Stairlifts PLC, which was run by Craig James Paterson. This firm went into liquidation two months later, ending its £495 buyback. This would have been reduced anyway by the very small print £295 removal fee, leaving £200 - which was built into the price you paid in the first place.
Paterson has been a director of nine dissolved or liquidated companies including Stairlift Rentals, Air Quality, Paterson Security Services and Hi-Security.
When Churchills Stairlifts PLC went bust, the liquidators sold some of the assets (but not the company Aston Martin and helicopter) to an unconnected company, Churchill's Stairlifts UK, run by accountant Robert Kane and ultimately part of a Dutch group.
Mr Kane told Capital Letters that he is working to restore the firm's reputation with a mix of better service and lower cost appliances. He will remove your unwanted stairlift and return your maintenance fee as a goodwill gesture.
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