Bynea businessman jailed for camper vans offences

Carmarthenshire Trading Standards say the jailing of a Bynea businessman should sound a warning to others thinking about conning their customers with shoddy services and dangerous goods.
The team were present at Swansea Crown Court to see Paul Berian Lloyd, owner of van conversion company Race Passion/Vdub Passion, jailed for eight months for a catalogue of offences relating to the sale, supply, conversion and restoration of camper vans.
The 48-year-old, from Porth Y Gar, Bynea, admitted conning his customers out of thousands of pounds following lengthy investigations by Carmarthenshire County Council’s Trading Standards team.
This week’s appearance in court was his second in two years. In March 2015 he was sentenced to four months imprisonment, suspended for two years, after admitting to nine counts under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and two under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.
Activating that sentence, and imposing a further four month sentence for three new offences, Judge Geraint Walters said Lloyd was ‘a man of many meaningless words, and many meaningless actions’ who had shown ‘profound arrogance’ towards his customers.
The two sentences will run consecutively, meaning he will spend eight months behind bars.
He will return to court in February when the court will agree the level of compensation he must pay to his victims, and how much he will repay under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
It will add to the £27,063.30 compensation and £14,000 prosecution costs that he was ordered to pay in March.
Carmarthenshire’s Trading Standards team began investigating Lloyd after dealing with complaints from several of his customers.
The three new offences relate to the sale of Volkswagen campervans and detailed a catalogue of failures, including failure to provide adequate after sales care, relevant gas and electrical safety certificates, the correct service history for the vehicles, and valid MOTs. He also failed to carry out repairs as promised to his customers, failed to provide a written receipt on request, and sold one vehicle in an un-roadworthy condition.
His previous offences included selling vehicles that were unsafe, taking deposits for vans that did not even exist and giving false details about the sources of his vehicles.
Cllr Jim Jones, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Executive Board Member for Public Protection, said: “Paul Lloyd conned his customers out of thousands of pounds, and lied habitually to line his own pockets at the expense of innocent people.
“Our Trading Standards and legal team worked tirelessly on behalf of consumers to bring this man to justice.
“This is a very clear message to any traders thinking about using illegal tactics to sell shoddy goods and services and rip off their customers – we have the expertise and the will to stop you in your tracks.”