James Lake, Prosecuting Counsel for West Yorkshire Trading Standards (WYTS) and Derek Hallam of Henry Hyams Solicitors secure the longest sentence known for a WYTS case of this nature.
The investigation into Mr Morrison and Mr Towers’ company’s poor workmanship – and failure to refund deposits – turned out to be the worst case of rouge trading that officers from West Yorkshire Trading Standards had ever come across.
Morrison and Towers were charged with offences under the Consumer Protection and Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) and the Fraud Act 2006.
Guilty pleas were accepted from the defendant, Morrison and Towers on the first day of the trial at Leeds Crown Court.
During sentencing, prosecuting barrister James Lake told the Court: ‘The evidence demonstrates the uncrupulous, disreputable and persistent manner in which the defendants conducted their business. Rather than care to avoid entering into contracts with vulnerable and elderly people, Morrison and Towers sought out these people as customers, as they were easy targets’.
Morrison and Towers were sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment, with Judge James Spencer QC stating that the starting point for sentencing was five years, which was reduced by 15 per cent for their early plea.
Lucy Norton of West Yorkshire Trading Standards provides her account of the case in the article linked below:
http://portfolio.cpl.co.uk/TS-Today/201801/resinways-prosecution/
