A LLANDYSUL man who admitted four counts of fraud in relation to supplying model railway layouts has been handed a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay compensation of more than £4,000.

Colin Harding, of Pontsian, Llandysul, appeared before magistrates at Aberystwyth Justice Centre to plead guilty to charges brought by Ceredigion County Council that he committed fraud by making a false representation, namely that he would complete and deliver model railway layouts to four separate people during the past 18 months.

The 57-year-old also pleaded guilty to a charge that between December 23 2018 and March 1, 2019, at Cardiff, he failed to ensure that electrical equipment had been designed and manufactured in accordance with safety objectives before placing it on the market.

Harding was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for 15 months. He was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months as part of a supervision order and fined £30.

No costs or surcharge were awarded as Harding has limited means to pay back those he defrauded and the compensation order takes priority. The court was not in a position to order full repayment, even though justified.

Compensation orders were made for £312; £383; £1,912; £1,175 and £350. Harding has to pay back the money at the rate of £10 per fortnight.

Harding, whose trading names included ‘Model Railway Layouts’, had taken payments of over £15,000 from customers as part of his business which he ran from home. He offered a service to design and construct model railway layouts but failed to provide any orders to those customers that he had defrauded. 

The court heard that when he did supply a layout to one of the complainants, it was considered so unsafe by an expert electrical engineer who examined it that there would have been a high risk of electrical shock to anyone using it.

Harding gave a range of excuses to his customers for non-completion of work, including debt and other personal problems. His solicitor, told the court that Harding had spent the deposits on general living costs.

Cllr Gareth Lloyd, Ceredigion County Council cabinet member with responsibility for public protection, said: “Dishonest traders need to be aware that persistent offending of this nature is likely to attract harsh penalties. 

"The Ceredigion Public Protection team acts not only to protect consumers from dishonest traders, but also to help maintain trust in the honest traders who are in the majority in Ceredigion’s business community.

“I urge any consumers who believe that they are being defrauded by unscrupulous businesses to report the matter to Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 040505 (Welsh language line) or 03454 040506 (English language line). The Public Protection team works in partnership with Citizens Advice and any matter reported will be notified to the relevant local authority.”