Customers were left out of pocket after a Long Eaton plumber mislead them. Adam Wilson of Sunninghill Drive, Clifton, ran Yourplumbstop, and at a previous court hearing in December 2021, he admitted 12 charges of breaching the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
One of the charges against the 41 year old was for making false statements about representing a company named Wolf Design and Build Ltd when he was negotiating a contract to refurbish a bathroom. The other 11 charges relate to how he failed to tell customers that he was bankrupt, which he had a duty to disclose as it could affect a consumer's transactional decision reports Derbyshire Live.
His victim's were from all over Derbyshire, including Ilkeston, Alfreton and Spondon. Wilson appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday, November 9, where Judge Rafferty sentenced him to to two-and-a-half years imprisonment relating to the trading standards charges and a further two-and-a-half years imprisonment for a separate drugs-related offence.
Read More: Drink driver lied at scene of crash after causing death of young carer
Judge Rafferty said that Wilson had “fleeced people of their hard-earned money, giving them nothing”.
Wilson’s barrister told the court that Wilson had set up Yourplumbstop as a legitimate business, however, he had subsequently used the premises to grow cannabis. One of the customers who was left out of pocket was a disabled woman who needed a walk-in bath and paid Wilson £6,000 in July 2019 to do the work.
However, the only work carried out by Wilson was taking the old bathroom out and plastering the walls. This left the woman without a functioning bathroom for over seven months, as she could not afford to pay another business to complete the work.
Due to WIlson being bankrupt, he was and still is, prohibited from taking any payments over £500 from customers without informing them of his status. This is because customers need to be able to make an informed choice about the financial risks that they are taking.
The problems with Yourplumbstop were made aware to the Derbyshire County Council trading standards when they were contacted by 11 different customers of Wilson. All of which had partial work or no work at all done, despite paying him large amounts of money to replace their bathrooms.
None of these 11 customers had any knowledge that Wilson was bankrupt. Due to the breaches of contract, in total, the customers are owed £27,000 by Wilson which because of his bankruptcy they cannot recover through civil recovery.
A Proceeds of Crime hearing will take place in the future. Carol Hart, Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for health and communities, said: “We welcome this prison sentence by the court as it sends out a very clear message to people that our trading standards officers will investigate complaints and traders will not get away with failing or misleading consumers, providing a substandard service or leaving people out of pocket.
“The fact that in this case, people who have handed over thousands of pounds in good faith have no redress makes this even more despicable, but I hope they take some comfort in the fact this man has been punished by the courts. The success of the prosecution was down to the diligent investigation of our trading standards officers who ensured this dishonest businessman was brought to justice.”
Read Next:
Son's special funeral tribute to dad who was a 'devoted family man'
DWP reminds people due £324 cost-of-living payment this month of important detail
Nottingham Forest turned down by £28m striker after Everton transfer decision
ITV Loose Women's Carol McGiffin urged to resign over Matt Hancock I'm a Celebrity comments
