A NOTORIOUS Hampshire car dealer has been found guilty of conning hundreds of customers.

Richard Burbage has been told he is likely to face a substantial prison sentence after being found guilty of five counts of fraudulent trading.

It comes after a Daily Echo investigation into Burbage resulted in an in-depth probe by Hampshire Trading Standards.

The Echo took up the story following complaints from angry ex-customers who were sold faulty cars and were refused refunds.

Yesterday, after three-and-a-half days of deliberation, a jury at Salisbury Crown Court returned guilty verdicts on five charges of fraudulent trading which included clocking car mileages, giving false descriptions of vehicles, failing to deliver vehicles, forging vehicle documents, falsifying warranties and failing to give refunds.

Hampshire Trading Standards launched a major investigation after receiving hundreds of complaints about Burbage and his associate Stan Rudgley, who pleaded guilty at an earlier date to involvement in fraudulent trading.

During the case, which has lasted more than a month, jurors heard how Burbage, 44, of Poplar Way, Hedge End, removed more than a million miles from the odometers of 17 sample cars which represented a tiny percentage of those involved.

The investigation started in 2013, when Southampton Trading Standards began an inquiry into Woolston Car Supermarket.

The court heard customers were confronted by “pushy” salesmen who persuaded them they were getting a bargain, but whose “lies and misrepresentations” amounted to fraud.

Jurors heard four businesses were initially linked to the defendants – Hampshire Vehicle Sales, Woolston Car Supermarket, Service 4 Life and Deltaflag.

Then when the inquiry was handed over to Hampshire Trading Standards, they investigated a fifth firm, Swiftbird, which was formed in 2014.

Following hundreds of complaints from the public, Southampton Trading Standards began an investigation into Woolston Car Supermarket.

Addressing Burbage, who remained impassive following the verdict, Judge Barnett said: “You have been convicted on five counts of fraudulent trading.

“They are very serious, and there is a great deal of money involved and a great deal of misery for the public.”

Judge Barnett added Burbage was likely to receive a “substantial sentence” of imprisonment, it was agreed that Burbage would be remanded in custody.

Two co-defendants, Ryan Overton and Darryl Warren were acquitted and found not guilty of all charges they faced.

The court heard from customers and suppliers of Burbage including:

l Danny Critchley, a former serviceman who told how the engine of his van cut out when it reached 35mph, minutes after leaving the Southampton car dealership he bought it from.

l Mark Evans, who realised there were various things wrong with a five-door 2005 Ford Focus he bought from Service 4 Life Ltd, based in Botley for £3,495. He realised that the vehicle had done more than 139,000 not the 54,500 which Burbage claimed.

l Robert Ings, a director of a firm which did MOTs for Swift Bird. who noticed the mileage of a Jaguar did not add up. He confronted Burbage and Rudgley and claimed they told them they would “Tipp-Ex it out”.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Roy Perry said: “We welcome the court’s decision on this long and complicated case – the result of investigations by Hampshire County Council Trading Standards officers since 2014, after an initial investigation by Southampton Trading Standards.

“The work of Trading Standards officers is crucial in helping to protect consumers from such illegal practice.

“If anyone has any concerns about a business, they can alert Trading Standards by contacting the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06.”

Daily Echo: Woolston Car Supermarket

PICTURED: Woolston Car Supermarket on Hazel Road

The Echo saw Burbage on the defence and the attack.
In March 2014 when the Echo went to Burbage for comments after it emerged he was being investigate by police over reports that he threatened a customer, the rogue trader unleashed an angry torrent of abuse.

Burbage told our reporter: “You print anything in the paper I will sue you individually and as a paper. Whatever happens, if you print anything more... I will personally make it a vendetta. 

“I hope you can sleep well because when I am finished I will turn your life upside down. You are harassing my family.” 

A few weeks earlier Burbage had agreed to an interview in which he could give his side of the story.

In the article Burbage claimed that he had received death threats and suffered a nervous breakdown after his company Kar Land had collapsed Australia allegedly owing millions.

He claimed he had been too busy to supervise the company’s finances as he jetted about Australia running the nationwide business which at its peak employed 100 people.

He said: “I was thinking everything was rosy.” 

“I was devastated when it all went wrong – and for those people not to have been paid for their cars. They are just normal people that really did not deserve it. I mean that sincerely.”

He denied running Woolston Car Supermarket and Fort Wallington Car Sales, claiming that they were the responsibility of Stan Rudgley.

When the Echo showed him footage (filmed by a customer) of the pair of them threatening that customer he claimed it was another member of the staff at the dealership who looked like him.

Daily Echo:

The Echo was alerted to the activities of Richard Burbage and his associate Stan Rudgley in January 2014.

Angry customers of the Woolston Car Supermarket claimed they had been ripped off.

Horror stories also included someone buying a previously written-off vehicle and a car fitted with unregistered plates. Many of those sold shoddy cars and handed bouncing refund cheques were left in the lurch when the dealership closed.

The Echo tracked the pair down to Fort Wallington Car Sales in Fareham where it was dodgy business as usual.

Trading Standards were deluged with complaints and began their lengthy investigations.

Fort Wallington closed soon after but in March 2014 the Echo reported that Burbage and Rudgley were back in business – sharing the premises with a ladies lingerie shop.

Their new online business, Valley Cars, operated from the same premises Ophelia’s Boutique in Botley.

In May the Echo ran a story that the pair were using a supermarket car park to store their cars.

Looking into Burbage’s past it transpired that he had come to Britain from Australia where he’d run a dealership which had collapsed allegedly owing more than £6m.
He was the co-director of a company called We Buy Any Car – which had no connection with the British online business of the same name.

The firm, which had an official title of Kar Land Pty Ltd, bought vehicles from customers but did not pay for them until they had been sold on.

Hundreds of clients were unable to retrieve their cars they had given him to sell. 

According to reports in the Australian press, the Lamborghini-driving Burbage left Brisbane for the UK soon after. Mr Burbage was banned from being a director in Australia for ten years. 

The liquidator report stated that it was unable to find any reliable business information and accounts. 

As well as Woolston Car Supermarket, Mr Burbage was linked with a company that previously occupied the same site called Hampshire Vehicle Sales. 

The logo bore a striking resemblance to those used by Burbage’s Australian business.

The company changed its name to Woolston Car Supermarket in November 2014.