A dishonest second-hand car salesman pretended he was a private seller to con customers out of their cash, a court has heard.
Shamus Dewaine even told one buyer the car she was purchasing had belonged to his brother and been used by his mother - but in reality he had bought the vehicle for scrap just a few days before selling it on. Other vehicles flogged by the father-of-six were in an unroadworthy or even dangerous condition.
A judge branded Dewaine "a cheat and a fraudster" who had used "all the tricks of a rogue and dishonest trader" to cheat people out of their money. The court heard it had cost the local council £15,000 to investigate and prosecute the defendant for his dodgy and dangerous dealings, but that he was not in a position to repay the costs as he was out of work.
Andrew Davies, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that Dewaine was a "dodgy second-hand car salesman" who pretended to be a private seller in order to circumvent the rights consumers have against traders. He said that in the space of just over two years the defendant had advertised some 43 cars for sale on Facebook as well as selling other vehicles directly "from the side of the road".
He said Pembrokeshire Council trading standards officers became aware of what he was doing and contacted him on a number of occasions to tell him of the legal obligations a trader was subject to, but the defendant maintained he was not a trader and he was just selling cars as a hobby. Read about a rogue roofer whose botched jobs costs householders tens of thousands to repair.
The court heard the sale of three vehicles by 45-year-old Dewaine were the subject of the charges before the court.
The first involved the sale of a Citroen Berlingo which the defendant sold via Facebook for £995 in July, 2020. The prosecutor said Dewaine told the buyer it was a "reliable car in great condition" with a full MoT and belonged to his brother, though he said his mother had also occasionally used it "for her bee farm business". Mr Davies said that in reality Dewaine had bought the car for scrap for £325 just a few days earlier, and then lied about its true condition to the buyer.
The court heard that when dashboard warning lights came on during a test drive Dewaine used "what he claimed was a diagnostic machine to show there was nothing wrong", and he even named a local garage where he said work had been done on the vehicle and new parts including a cam belt had been fitted. The court heard that when an independent assessor later checked the Berlingo he found it to be unroadworthy and in little more than scrap condition.
The second sale which saw Dewaine in the dock was of a Renault Clio which he sold to a young learner driver in January, 2021, again through Facebook. The defendant described the car as "very tidy" and delivered it to the teenager at night when a detailed examination was not possible - he was then "pushy" towards the young buyer until he handed over £900.
The following morning the buyer saw the inside of the car was rotten and the seatbelts were mouldy, and when he contacted Dewaine to complain he was advised to "give it a wipe and put it back on sale". Instead, the youngster went to the local trading standards department, and a subsequent check revealed a catalogue of problems which rendered it unroadworthy and dangerous. Read about a dodgy builder who called himself "Lee King" the plumber and who left a family £16,000 out of pocket.
The prosecutor said the third sale involved another Clio which Dewaine sold to a man with mobility issues in April, 2021, for £695 - again this vehicle was later found to have a "catalogue of defects" including long-term oil leaks in the engine and gearbox, problems with the brakes, and a broken suspension coil. The Renault was subsequently sold for scrap for £150.
Shamus Julius Dewaine, of Castleton Grove, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of breaching consumer protection legislation and supplying an unsafe product when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He had 15 previous convictions for 27 offences including obtaining property by deception, theft, driving while disqualified, burglary, and benefit fraud.
Barrister David Singh, for Dewaine, said it was accepted the offending crossed the custody threshold, and that it was clear from a pre-sentence report that the defendant "has a lack of understanding of his offending and its impacts". He said said there was a different side to his client, and he said he currently had care of two of his children.
Recorder Christopher Felstead told Dewaine he was "a cheat and a fraudster" who used "all the tricks of a rogue and dishonest trader" to cheat people out of their hard earned money by "selling dodgy, unsafe, unroadworthy vehicles". He said the defendant had portrayed himself to potential purchasers as a trustworthy, honest and reliable man but in reality was "none of those things", and he said he had no doubt Dewaine was a dishonest man when it suited him.
With a 10 per cent discount for his guilty pleas, Dewaine was sentenced to a total of nine months in prison suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete a thinking skills course. The recorder told him he was walking out of court rather than leaving in a prison van "by the skin of his teeth", and he warned him that if he returned to offending a term of immediate imprisonment was almost inevitable.
The defendant was ordered to pay compensation to the purchasers of the Berlingo and the second Clio, the defendant already having refunded the young learner driver his cash after hearing the teenager had made a complaint to trading standards. The court heard Pembrokeshire Council had spent £15,000 investigating and prosecuting Dewaine but, given the fact the defendant was unable to work and was claiming employment support allowance, the recorder said it was unrealistic to make a costs order.
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