An unscrupulous solar panel installer who received almost £25,000 for work he had no intention of carrying out has been jailed after an investigation by North Yorkshire Council’s trading standards officers.
Sean Berry, 34, ran SB Electrical Security and Solutions Limited, based in Stokesley in North Yorkshire.
One of the people he took advantage of said he had taken away her faith in tradesmen through his “lies and manipulation”.
North Yorkshire Council’s Trading Standards team said the number of scams which are similar to Berry’s offending is on the increase and have warned the public to be aware.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for trading standards, Cllr Greg White, said: “Our trading standards service is seeing increasing numbers of cases where traders take money upfront from consumers and then fail to carry out work or supply materials.
“While we understand that the trading environment is difficult, it is completely unacceptable that hard working consumers are misled into paying large sums of money and then get nothing in return.
“I hope the sentence imposed on Sean Berry sends a clear message to traders that we will not tolerate these sorts of business practices.
“My advice to any tradesperson who finds themselves in difficulties is to speak to their customers to explain and agree an achievable timetable for work or a repayment plan. Simply ignoring customers or giving them fabricated excuses only makes the situation worse for all concerned.”
Trading Standards officials began an investigation after receiving six complaints from people in Easingwold and Whitby in North Yorkshire as well as Middlesbrough, Hull and County Durham.
Berry was the sole director of the company with customers expecting him to carry out electrical work and to install solar panel systems to their properties.
However, after paying an initial deposit of up to 50 per cent to cover materials, no work was carried out or materials received, and no refunds were provided.
One householder from Shildon in County Durham, said: “SB Electrical took away my faith in tradesmen. Sean Berry manipulated, lied and had every intention of taking advantage of me and I’m glad justice has prevailed.”
Berry, of Bankfields Road in Middlesbrough, was sentenced at York Crown Court on Wednesday (February 26), having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to four counts of fraud by false representation and five counts of engaging in an unfair commercial practice under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
He was sentenced to a total of two years and eight months in prison, receiving two years and eight months for each fraud to run concurrently and eight months for each unfair trading offence, also to run concurrently.
There was no order for costs or compensation due to the immediate custodial sentence.
Berry was also disqualified from acting as a company director for 10 years.
Additionally, Berry was given one day’s custody, to run concurrently, for failing to attend a sentencing hearing on Tuesday.
For consumer advice and guidance visit https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/business-and-economy/trading-standards.
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