Southampton car dealer made £80k selling cars he didn't have

Jonathan Nolan, 62, was "robbing Peter to pay Paul", a court heard.

He sent customers invoices for six cars - a Honda CRV, a Mazda 3, a Mazda CX5, a Honda CRV, a Kia Sportage and a Ford Fiesta.

But after receiving payments totalling £82,250, no vehicle was provided and the money was moved on to other destinations.

He had been declared bankrupt in 2010.

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Nolan, of Ardnave Crescent, Bassett initially denied the charges but changed his plea to guilty on the day of his trial.

Speaking at his sentencing at Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday, Judge Nicholas Rowland said there was a “high degree of recklessness” to the offences and Nolan's behaviour was “thoroughly dishonest”.

The crimes in April 2017 and January 2018 were described as “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.

They took place during the operational period of a suspended sentence imposed for failing to disclose a bank account after Nolan was declared bankrupt.

Prosecutor, Trever Archer said the fraud “involved significant planning” and “the abuse of trust built up in previous dealings”.

It was “relatively sophisticated”, he added.

But Jamie Gammon, mitigating, said his client was trying to “do the only thing he knows” by buying and selling vehicles.

“He has found it very difficult to accept that he was overtly dishonest.

Southampton Crown Court

“He is not good with money. Bankruptcy laws are there to make sure that people who are not good with money shouldn’t be trading.

“He still remains bankrupt and, I imagine, would find it very difficult to discharge himself from here on.

“He leaves behind a wife who will struggle to pay the mortgage.”

Mr Gammon said his client had a number of medical appointments for physical conditions and short-term memory loss.

He said he is “a man who will significantly struggle in a custodial setting”.

Nolan, who appeared in the dock on crutches, was jailed for two years - 16 months for the fraud charges and six months for breaching the suspended sentence.