Investigations

Joe Akers the Caravan Shark

2013-05-16T12:03:16Z

It's not often we confront a conman like this bloke above who admits: "It's a fraud".

"Stu" advertised a holiday caravan for hire in North Yorkshire on Gumtree using pictures he had nicked off someone else's website.

Michelle, from Hull, hasn't had a holiday for five years and, after a bad pregnancy, wanted to get away for the bank holiday.

She paid £100 - "a lot of money to us" - into a bank account on the instructions of someone calling himself Joe Akers only to be told on the day of the booking that it wasn't available.

A refund was promised but then didn't turn up.

"I cried all weekend," Michelle told us. "The children were absolutely heartbroken about it."

Then we heard that Akers, from Peterlee in Co Durham, was expecting delivery of another customer's money but we turned up instead.
Asked whether Michelle was going to get her money back Akers said: "Yeah, within a week."

Us: "Do you own a caravan?"

Akers: "No, it wasn't a caravan."

Us: "What was it?"

Akers: "A fraud. I was lying about it."

Akers has since rung us back to claim he is a victim too.

He now says he didn't place the Gumtree ad and hasn't received Michelle's money, despite Michelle paying it into his wife's bank account.

They thought they were untouchable but now the Loach brothers are in jail

2013-05-16T08:32:25Z

Being wrong has never felt so good. Back in 2008 we reported that two brothers who we branded Britain's nastiest car dealers "just can't be stopped".

Now they have been halted in their tracks - we are delighted to report that Richard Loach (above, standing) and David (sitting) are starting sentences of two years and three months for fraudulent trading.

Sentencing them at Nottingham crown court, Judge Teare said they "lied and lied," and trading was "riddled with dishonesty".

The prosecution by city council trading standards officers follows scamming dating back more than a decade.

David, 49, and 46-year-old Richard started with Worldwide Vehicles Supplies which claimed to sell left hand drive vehicles but collapsed after failing to fulfil orders and owing more than £1million.

A similar pattern followed with their Micronet Showroom and Left Hand Drive Car Company.

Not only did they fail to provide vehicles to buyers who had paid for them, customers who sold their cars through the brothers received partial payment or nothing at all.

They changed pleas to guilty on the morning the trial started.

Alex Norris, councillor for community safety at Nottingham City Council, welcomed the sentences that were handed down

Speaking after the case, he said: "This trial is the result of years of hard work by the Trading Standards team and I'm really pleased with the outcome, given the heartache and financial hardship these brothers have caused to many people.

"Rogue traders come in all shapes and sizes and target many different types of people. Our job is to keep citizens safe from this kind of fraudulent activity. I am particularly pleased with the sentence as the brothers had maintained their innocence until the morning of the trial and I hope that others will think twice before defrauding others."

Nottingham City Council's Trading Standards Manager Jane Bailey said: "This is a fantastic result for Trading Standards after the culmination of many years of investigation. The brothers have finally admitted their fraudulent trading in criminal proceedings and the public are now safe from their fraudulent activity."

Bankruptcy Protection Fund doesn't, err, protect bankrupts.

2013-05-15T22:16:54Z

Supposed financial saviour Christopher Holmes (above) refused to talk to us when we met him this week.

Which is a pity, because we wanted to ask him if he is able to afford his £865,000 house because he gets other people chucked out of theirs.

His firms Consolidated Finance and Bankruptcy Protection Fund offer what look like lifelines, saying they can stop people who have been made bankrupt from being repossessed.

It's a big market, with 6,600 bankruptcies recorded from January to March this year alone.

"The Bankruptcy Protection Fund was set up to prevent people from losing their home as a result of bankruptcy," claims the firm, run from Manchester by 48-year-old Holmes.

"You will be able to keep all your assets including your house and your car."

The reality can be dreadfully different, as the Court of Appeal has laid bare.

It heard how Holmes's firms wanted to repossess the home of Tracy Collins of Hornchurch, Essex, who had been made bankrupt owing £13,500.

She was then cold-called by Consolidated Finance which leant her enough to pay her debts and the bankruptcy was annulled.

But the condition was that she remortgaged her home and she now faced having to repay Consolidated.

Its shocking interest of 4% per month kicked in and her debt to Consolidated escalated to more than £100,000, which she couldn't pay.

Because her loan from Consolidated was secured against her house, the firm went to court to get possession.

At first it succeeded, and also got permission to take the homes from three other "customers" who ended up owing far more to Consolidated than they ever owed in bankruptcy.

Thankfully the Court of Appeal has now overturned that judgment. Judge Sir Stanley Burnton said that the companies charged "extraordinarily high" interest rates to vulnerable customers.

Speaking of the predicament of Tracy Collins, he said that if she had been unable to pay the "relatively modest" sum that resulted in her bankruptcy then "the chances were that she would be unable to refinance the much greater sums that would be due to the companies, as indeed happened."

The consequence for Tracy and husband Innes: "They were likely to lose their home."

Judge Burnton added: "This was the very result that, according to the companies' literature, entering into the agreements with them would avoid."

He also had scathing words for Lupton Fawcett, the lawyers that Holmes's firms introduced to its customers.

He said: "It must, and certainly should, have been obvious to them the transactions with Mr and Mrs Collins were manifestly to their disadvantage.

"Mrs Collins was their client. I raise the question whether in such circumstances a solicitor can properly avoid a duty to advise his client by excluding that duty from his retainer, as Lupton Fawcett sought to do."

Of course she could have got proper advice elsewhere, though the judge pointed out that a bankrupt person might not be able to afford a second set of solicitors.

Lupton Fawcett - its mission statement says it likes "raising a few eyebrows" - said: "We are actively reviewing our historic role in these matters and any appropriate lessons will be acted upon."

Holmes would not comment when we met him as he left his home in Hale, Cheshire, where a Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Boxster were parked in the driveway.

His lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, said that the companies were appealing the Court of Appeal's decision. So for the likes of Tracy Collins and the other three sets of homeowners, the nightmare goes on.

The full Court of Appeal judgment can be found here. I would urge anyone thinking of doing business with Consolidated Finance or Bankruptcy Protection Fund to read it, especially paragraphs 55 to 59.

The two firms along with a third one, Alpha Mortgages Manchester Ltd, were in 2010 ordered by the Office of Fair Trading to improve their business practices. An investigation by the OFT found that they "had not been transparent in their dealings with customers and failed to adequately outline the risks involved". More here.

Ticket touts: more needs to be done

2013-05-15T22:10:48Z

Pressure is mounting on the Government to tackle the rampant ticket touting industry and fraudsters who leech off it.

We've been exposing the crooks of the ticketing world for many years and last week our work was cited in the House of Commons as evidence that the law needed changing.

Labour MP Sharon Hodgson has called for a maximum 10% mark-up on the resale of tickets to deter professional touts and ensure tickets go to genuine fans at an affordable price.

She cited our expose of the use of computer botnets (software designed to automatically harvest the best seats as soon as they go on sale) by The Ticket Hut "to secure vast swathes of One Direction tickets".

She said that despite "clear evidence" in our columns of the problem, Sport Minister Hugh Robertson refuses to tackle ticket touting.

Ms Hodgson said even Scotland Yard, in a damning report we revealed, has called for regulation and possibly legislation to stop the racket which forces fans to buy tickets at rip-off prices.

Labour wants changes to the Consumer Rights Bill to crack down on ticket touting.

How firms go bust to avoid death and injury fines

2013-05-15T22:10:09Z

At least four companies escaped health and safety prosecutions last year after going bust, the Health and Safety Executive has said.

Last month we revealed the scandal of Andrew Jones Pies, which went into administration after 37-year-old David Cole died in an explosion at its Huddersfield factory.

So it avoided a £250,000 fine and £125,000 costs, despite being accused of "failing dismally", and the business carried on under a new name A J Pies & Pastries.

We asked the HSE to tell us about similar cases using the Freedom of Information Act.

Three firms in 12 months have received nominal fines for serious offences after going bust.

The most recent followed the death of Bruce Dempsey, 25, from Eccles, who died when a forklift truck toppled onto him at metal manufacturer Applied Fusion Ltd in Patricroft, Greater Manchester.

Manchester Crown Court heard no health and safety audit had been carried and the forklift operator was inadequately trained.

But the firm, Applied Fusion Ltd, was wound up over an unpaid tax bill and was fined a nominal £1 after being found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of its employees.

In another case, Bolton pallet maker Frank Hill Ltd went into administration seven months after a worker, 27, lost three fingers on a saw that he hadn't been trained to use and had no safety guard. It was fined £2.

The HSE said it can take action against a director of a firm in administration "where their personal failings contribute to an incident".

Three firms in 12 months have received nominal fines for serious offences after going bust.

The most recent followed the death of Bruce Dempsey, 25, from Eccles, who died when a forklift truck toppled onto him at metal manufacturer Applied Fusion Ltd in Patricroft, Greater Manchester.

Manchester Crown Court heard no health and safety audit had been carried and the forklift operator was inadequately trained.

But the firm, Applied Fusion Ltd, was wound up over an unpaid tax bill and was fined a nominal £1 after being found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of its employees.

The HSE said it can take action against a director of a firm in administration "where their personal failings contribute to an incident".

"Self-employed" subbies face long legal battles just to get paid

2013-05-09T11:02:27Z

The lengths some people have to go to just to get paid their wages.

Three dozen construction workers were laid off without warning when Steve Hill Ltd went into administration last summer.

When they tried to claim up to £2,000 each in unpaid wages from the administrator they were told there was no record of them being owed money.

That's because they were "self-employed" and paid through something called the Guild of Construction Workers, which made £2million profits last year.

Up to half of Britain's builders are self-employed, more than in any other comparable country.

It suits many builders and it certainly suits their bosses who avoid national insurance contributions, holiday pay and sick pay.

Payroll firms such as the Guild have sprung up to make it even easier.

Two years ago we investigated them, posing as the boss of a small building firm looking to cut costs by making his staff self-employed.

A Guild rep told us: "That's what we do all day, every day."

She suggested that we ask the staff to resign before taking them back on as self-employed workers. We pointed out that according to the HM Revenue and Customs official website our staff should be employees.

"Take that with a pinch," she replied.

"They do try to sort of scare people almost into thinking that you can only employ people."

And she insisted: "We're not tricking anybody, it's all legit."

However, the 36 people who worked for Steve Hill Ltd but paid £21 a fortnight to get their wages via the Guild don't see it like that and last week they took the Guild to an employment tribunal in an effort to get their money.

In their statement to the tribunal the men said: "We have worked most of our working lives in construction and we have had the label of self-employed put upon us - not by our choice but by the employers.

"The majority of us have families. We have to work. We strive to educate our children so that they may never see the inside of a building site."

In order to win the case the men had to prove that they were really employees - not of Steve Hill - but of the Guild.

Which left them in an impossible position, because although the Guild paid their wages, it was Steve Hill who controlled their hours and conditions.

This evidence pointed towards Steve Hill, not the Guild, being the workers' employer, said Guild representative Rhodri Davis. "They might not like the fact that that's their only option," he said. "That doesn't make it unlawful, that's just the reality of the industry.

"The unpalatable nature of the arrangements to the claimants is not relevant."

Tribunal judge Richard Barrowclough praised the men for their "honesty and straightforward integrity".

But he said it was "crystal clear from all the evidence" that they were not employees of the Guild.

He said he would "express no view" on whether they were employed by Steve Hill as the company was not a party to proceedings. Which leaves them having to spend yet more money suing the Guild to get their wages paid.

We've been asked not to name the men because they are worried about being blacklisted in the industry.

Watching tribunal proceedings was Derek Reynolds, founder and boss of the Guild, whose banked dividends were worth to £11,000 a day last year. It's alright for some...

End of the road for payday lender run by a notorious tax avoider and his violent fraudster associate

2013-05-09T10:57:00Z

A PAYDAY lender run by a violent fraudster has been stripped of its licence.

Loansdirect2u.com, which charged 2,514% representative annual interest, had its consumer credit licence revoked by the Office of Fair Trading because it failed to declare the convictions of ex- boss Neil Evans.

Evans was jailed for 56 months in 1999 for wounding with intent and was imprisoned a second time in 2006 for conspiracy to defraud.

The 34-year-old from Margate, Kent, also ran B2B International UK, which has been stripped of its licence too.

It gets murkier: Evans' partner at both operations was Matthew Jenner of Horsham, West Sussex, who owned a 25% stake in the two firms.

We came across Jenner, 42, earlier this year when we exposed his enormous charity tax avoidance scheme called the Cup Trust.

It raised £177million but spent just £55,000 on good causes.

Jenner is one of the founders of controversial tax firm NT Advisors, which reportedly stands for "no tax" and has been behind some of the biggest tax avoidance schemes in recent years.

Beyonce fans hit by fake ticket scam

2013-05-09T10:54:42Z

Hundreds of Beyonce fans were shut out of the sell-out London O2 Arena gig this weekend after being scammed with fake tickets.

Lindsey Snellgrove spotted an online ticket advert last week and phoned "Ashraf". She met him outside Stratford Station, East London, and gave £510 for six e-tickets.

These are worryingly easy to counterfeit and, sure enough, Lindsey found herself in a long queue of victims.

She said: "Not only have a lot of people lost out on a lot of money but I also really wanted to see Beyonce. It was a very upsetting night, a lot of people were in tears."

In February, we revealed Scotland Yard's anti-touting unit Operation Podium, which has been disbanded, warned of a "policing void" when it was gone.

It found that ticket fraud costs £40million a year, has links to organised crime and politicians "encourage" it by failing to ban or regulate touting.

O2 said it was helping police but blamed "lack of legislation" for ticket touting. It urged fans to check official sources for tickets.

When 118118 = 1.79

2013-05-08T22:00:00Z

We've had a distressing call from a reader who wanted the number for the Samaritans, so he called 118118, which put him through.

That landed him with a call that cost £1.79 a minute, compared to the 4p a minute that it would have cost if he'd dialled from a BT landline.

The poor reader didn't want to discuss his personal situation so we don't know if money worries had driven him to the Samaritans, but it is very unlikely that the bill from 118118 made him feel any better.

Some people might be aware that it is more expensive if you ask the directory inquiry service to put you through, but you can hardly expect a person needing the Samaritans to think of this.

118118 is owned by The Number UK Ltd, which made profits of £340 million during the last five years. It told us that callers are given the cost of being transferred to the number they want, as well as the number itself so they can phone it independently if they would prefer.

"For all callers we believe we provide the right information in a timely way," said a spokesman.

What you are not told is how much - or how little - you would be charged if you call the number you want without being transferred by the directory inquiry firm, making it impossible to make an informed choice.

So if for instance you want the charity National Debtline, 118118 will offer to put you through at the budget-busting price of £1.79 a minute.

They don't tell you that if you call the Debtline yourself on 0808 808 400 then the cost is nothing because it's a freephone number.

Some people might be aware that it is more expensive if you ask the directory inquiry service to put you through, but you can hardly expect a person needing the Samaritans to think of this.

"For all callers we believe we provide the right information in a timely way," said a spokesman.

So if for instance you want the charity National Debtline, 118118 will offer to put you through at the budget-busting price of £1.79 a minute.

They don't tell you that if you call the Debtline yourself on 0808 808 400 then the cost is nothing because it's a freephone number.

Claim Credit Services rises from ashes of Consortium Reclaim

2013-05-08T22:00:00Z

The boss of a disastrous compo firm has a new outfit.

Nicholas Harle, above, ran Consortium Reclaim, which boasted: "We help you retrieve money from unlawful credit agreements."

We first heard about the firm from a reader who paid £850 to have it scrub a credit card debt he was told was unenforceable. But the debt could not be written off and his refund requests were ignored.

We had dozens of similar complaints before Consortium Reclaim, the trading name of Consortium Technology Ltd, collapsed owing £635,000.

It was run from The Exchange Building in Swansea by Harle, 37, who is now running Claim Credit Services from the same address.

This boasts of being one of the UK's leading firms when it comes to getting compo from mis-sold mortgages and payment protection insurance. It says on its website: "Imagine a cheque for thousands of pounds compensation landing on your doorstep."

One potential customer contacted us to say he'd been told he could reclaim £42,000 for a mis-sold mortgage and overpaid interest but had to pay £4,898 up front.

"This they said was to allow them to start a claim," he told us. "I did not pay, instead I looked up a solicitors' firm who specialises in this and they do it no-win, no-fee."

Harle emailed us to say: "Further to your unannounced visit I have taken advice as to whether I am able to answer your questions regarding Consortium Technology Limited.

"I am advised that as that company is in liquidation and under the control of the liquidator I must not seek to act on its behalf."

It is true that he must not act on its behalf, but there's nothing to stop him explaining where the money's gone or why, given his track record, anyone should trust his latest compo firm.

Beware leisure credit schemes, the new timeshare.

2013-05-08T22:00:00Z

It's a conman's dream: a product they can flog with no cooling-off period, no cancellation rights and not even any obligation to disclose important information about the deal.

They're called leisure credit schemes are they're the latest mutant version of timeshares.

High-pressure reps are flogging them for up to £15,000 in popular holiday destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Malta. The "credits" can supposedly be exchanged for accommodation, spa days, theatre trips and the like.

But unlike timeshares, they're not covered by the EU Timeshare Directive, which gives consumers certain rights.

In the past year, the UK European Consumer Centre received 60 complaints about leisure credit schemes, compared with 25 the previous year.

Director Andy Allen said: "The Timeshare Directive is intended to give the best protection in the modern holiday market and give all consumers across Europe equal protection.

"Whilst the legislation extended consumer protection throughout the EU in the field of timeshares and holidays clubs by giving minimum standards in the more areas, there are now new loopholes and weaknesses and we are seeing complaints about these coming through."

The steal steel scam

2013-05-08T10:40:09Z

This was an usual scam. Lee James ran the warehouse at Nottingham Steel where he was responsible for supplying beams ordered by customers for, say, home extensions.

Unbeknown to the company, he stole the beams and sold them, and then covered his tracks by giving customers weaker - and so cheaper - ones, pocketing the difference.

This week the 42-year-old from Brinsley, Nottingham, got a 12 month suspended jail sentence and 250 hours community work after pleading guilty to 17 counts of fraud. Accomplice Nicholas Densham, 31, admitted five counts of fraud and was sentenced to six months suspended and a 200 hour community punishment order.

One family had to move out of their farmhouse and into a caravan while beams supplied by James were reinforced because they did not meet building regulations.

Nottinghamshire Trading Standards, which brought the prosecution, said James exploited customers "with little regard to their safety".

The Nasty Party: grassroots Tory clubs face more than 300 employment tribunals in 12 years

2013-05-01T22:00:00Z

Might this be why the Government's ferocious assault on the rights of Britain's workers goes down so well with the Tory party faithful?

We've found that local Conservative Party clubs and associations have been taken to employment tribunals more than 300 times in the past dozen years.

Our employment rights were already the second weakest of any comparable nation in the industrialised world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

But not weak enough for this Government. Its changes include:

● Barring new workers from claiming unfair dismissal until they've been employed for two years instead of one.

● Charging up to £1,200 to take a case to a tribunal.

● Capping compensation for unfair dismissal at one year's salary.

Conservative clubs and associations have lost 75 employment tribunal cases in the past 12 years, compared to just 30 cases they've won.

Another 119 cases were settled before the tribunal hearing took place, while others were struck out or withdrawn.

Prime Minister David Cameron says the changes "highlight our determination to ensure that employment law is no longer seen as a barrier to growth".

But GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: "Your investigation shows the true face of the Tories as the nasty party.

"And it explains why they are hell-bent on further weakening Britain's already shamefully weak employment protections."

Leading employment lawyer Victoria Phillips, of Thompsons Solicitors, said: "For the last 30 years there has been a consensus between employers and employees that there should be basic rights at work.

"Even Thatcher left the basics in place. What we are witnessing now is a dismantling of even those basic rights."

Cast out of a job after 25 years

A DEVOTED manager was let go by a Tory club after working for them for 25 loyal years.

Trevor James was only two years away from retirement when Luton Conservative Club began to make cuts to costs. He agreed to voluntary redundancy for a one-off payment and the promise of a part-time role that would pay £165 a week.

Instead, Trevor (below) received a letter thanking him for taking voluntary redundancy but stating that there was no part-time job available.

An employment tribunal in Bedford heard in 2010 that Trevor, who had been club secretary since 1986, "would never have agreed the redundancy if it had not included the provision of part-time work".

The hearing was told that there was "no attempt to renegotiate" the package for him. This left Trevor suffering from panic attacks, and employment judge Gordon Wignall said: "For a substantial period, there have been lengthy occasions when he has not felt able to leave the safe confines either of his home or his car."

He ruled that Trevor was unfairly dismissed and awarded him £2,395 compensation.

"I was devastated because I had the part-time role in writing from them," Trevor told us. "It's the problem with these clubs run by committees - they enjoy the power and like to think their rules are above the law.

"I have been on tablets because of the stress. This has had a significant impact on my retirement plans."

Fined for giving Tory club members pints that were short .. but not short enough

CHEATING Tory club bosses fined bar steward Helen Davies £238 because her short measures weren't short enough.

The extraordinary details of how Wednesfield Conservative Club conned its members were revealed when Helen went to an employment tribunal in Birmingham.

After replacing its glasses with smaller ones that held exactly a pint when full to the brim, the secretary told Helen the club committee was expecting a 5% surplus on draught beer.

But in June 2010 the actual surplus was 4.1%, generating £238 less than the £1,368 they had expected to make in extra profit. So the committee took the difference from the bond Helen paid when she took the job.

By then she was in dispute with the club about rottweiler Bam Bam, which they banned from her flat even though it was allowed under the terms of her contract.

Helen (above) was eventually sacked for "gross misconduct", but the tribunal found she was unfairly dismissed and the club settled for a reported five-figure sum.

Sacked because Tory committee "disapproved" of marriage

A bar steward was sacked and kicked out of his flat with his wife and their 10-day-old baby son after stuffy Tory club officials disapproved of their relationship.

John Witcomb, 55, met Naomi, 26, (below, with son Harry) while he worked at Winchester's Conservative Club and the pair moved into his apartment above it.

But the club's management committee refused to allow it because the couple weren't married - so they decided to tie the knot.

Then John was suspended for installing air conditioning while Naomi was pregnant with son Harry and there was a disciplinary hearing for taking cigarette breaks on duty.

An employment tribunal in Southampton later found that notes criticising him "were continually pushed under his flat door".

The tribunal judge ruled that John was unfairly dismissed and said: "Our view was that the reason for the dismissal was related to his relationship with his wife, which they disapproved of."

John was awarded £16,151 in damages and said: "They were arrogant and they had no sympathy at all.

"I was so stressed I was on anti-depressants. When I won I was crying. I was so glad it was all over. I wouldn't wish that stress on anyone."

Tory club told to pay £108k for plotting to sack couple after 21 years

One Tory club plotted to find ways to "legally get rid of" the husband and wife team who had run their bar for 21 years.

Carolyn and Richard Hazel were awarded £108,044 after the committee of New Eltham Conservative Club revealed their plans in a letter published by the Association of Conservative Clubs newsletter.

Employment judge Philip Tsamados blasted the club's actions, telling its members: "Consultation means more than communicating a decision already made."

He said the club sacked the couple and then looked "for a legal way in which to justify it" and London South employment tribunal ruled in 2010 that they were unfairly dismissed.

Mr Hazel, then 64, has since died, but his widow has yet to receive a penny because the club is appealing against the compensation award.

The Government has slashed the amount of compensation for unfair dismissal to one year's salary, admitting this move would have the greatest impact on older people who were unlikely to find other work.

Sacked worker told "it's a new regime now, love"

AN office worker was told: "It's a new regime now, love," when she was sacked by a Tory association chairman.

Joyce Bassom had been given a temporary contract working for Ilford Conservatives in east London on £9 an hour.

She hadn't even started work when the offer was withdrawn following a "fractious" meeting of local Tories, a Stratford employment tribunal heard.

Bill Layzell-Smith (right) took over as association chairman and started the process of appointing someone else to the post which Joyce had already been given.

Joyce, who was at the meeting, asked Layzell-Smith about the job she had been promised.

According to a witness, Layzell-Smith said: "What job? You don't listen, do you?" Joyce responded: "I am supposed to start on Monday." Layzell-Smith replied: "It's a new regime now, love."

Employment tribunal judge Michael Haynes found that Layzell-Smith harboured "a deep and strong antagonism towards the claimant".

What lay behind his hostility towards Joyce was a mystery, said Mr Haynes, who added that "we do not find he has been entirely honest" about the reasons.

The tribunal found there was a breach of contract and awarded Joyce £3,114 in damages.

Cleaner forced out of Tory club by "bullies"

The husband of a cleaner driven from her job at a Conservative club described her bosses as "bullies".

Susan Jackson, 63, had worked at East Ardsley Conservative Club in West Yorkshire for five years. She won her case for constructive dismissal after the club tried to change her hours with just two days' notice.

Husband Lance said: "She complained three times but they wrote back saying the job was open to her but if she couldn't do the hours that wasn't her responsibility.

"As far as we were concerned they wanted her out."

Sacked after Christmas drink driving row

A barwoman was fired after her husband was accused of reporting the club president to police for drink-driving.

An employment tribunal in Thornaby on Tees heard of "relationship difficulties" between Joan Dunn and the committee at Saltburn Conservative and Unionist Club.

At Christmas in 2009, the then club president Mike Sellars accused Mrs Dunn's husband of "shopping him" for alleged drink-driving.

Four days later, there was an argument between Joan and Mr Sellars over "his wishing to be served a drink after closing time at
the club". However, the tribunal found Mrs Dunn had been unfairly dismissed and awarded her compensation of £2,676.

Mr Sellars said he didn't wish to comment, adding: "It's past history and caused us a lot of trouble."

PS..

In the same period, since 2000, Labour clubs have faced more than 100 tribunals, losing 35 and winning just seven. Another 35 claims were settled, nine withdrawn and the others dismissed, struck out or are ongoing.

Meanwhile, Liberal clubs have faced 46 tribunals, losing 17, settling 13 and winning just one. Others were withdrawn or struck out.

Life's a Pitch TV

2013-05-01T15:02:53Z

This might explain why we've had so many recent complaints about online shopping channel Pitch TV, which we wrote about here.

A statement on its website reads: "Pitch TV has sadly gone into Administration and is no longer accepting customer orders. If you are an existing Pitch customer, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

"If you have ordered in the last few weeks, please be assured your order will be honoured. If you have any queries relating to an order you have already received, please contact customerservice@pitch.tv"

Not quite what customers expected when they bought stuff from the company that boasted: "It's clever, it's simple, it works..."

Hendrick Meniru jailed for junkmail scams

2013-04-28T06:43:05Z

Junkmail king Hendrick Meniru has been jailed for three years for fraud, money laundering and unfair trading.

We first wrote about him six years ago, and coverage of the court case is here.

To sum up, he was the fulfilment house for scam letters saying you'd won a huge prize if you bought some tat from a brochure. From his base in Bedford, Meniru cashed the cheques sent in by victims and forwarded the money to the overseas crooks behind the scams less, naturally, his commission.

Judge Stuart Bridge at Luton Crown Court said: "Those preyed on were vulnerable, gullible and financially compromised."

In mitigation the court heard that Meniru, 48, was "fundamentally a decent man" who had arrived in Britain from Nigeria and had "pulled himself up by his bootstraps".

After the case, mayor of Bedford Borough Dave Hodgson, said: "This decision by the court supports the action taken by Bedford Borough Council in pursuing this prosecution. Schemes such as these often prey on the elderly and vulnerable and the sentence handed out today sends out a strong message that we will pursue and prosecute those who break the law in the borough."

Congratulations to the Trading Standards officers from Bedford who finally saw justice done.