Andrew Mearns, 57, of Llandudno in Wales pleaded guilty to 14 counts of fraud at Sheffield Crown Court last Friday and was given a two-and-a-half-year custodial sentence.

The fraud took place over a two-year period between October 2017 and July 2019, when Mearns’ business, Gmund Cars Limitied in Knaresborough, began to experience financial problems and involved the sale of 14 cars, totalling £1,056,743.04, where the owners were not paid the proceeds but instead the money was used to keep his failing business afloat.