Swindon car dealer convicted of offering unroadworthy cars for sale

Barbato, of Oakham Road, Toothill, who owned Swindon Trade Centre in Stratton Road, had denied four allegations when he appeared before Swindon magistrates today.

But he was convicted and fined £1,000 for each allegation with £5,600 costs and a £100 victim surcharge.

The bench heard a visit by trading standards officials on August 6, 2014, revealed four unroadworthy cars for sale – an Alpha Romeo with a tyre split all the way round, a Renault Megan with excessive movement on the nearside front suspension, a Suzuki Wagon with a badly corroded front brake pipe and a Ford Mondeo with an illegal tyre.

Three of the cars were advertised online with a new MOT on purchase while the Mondeo’s MOT had 11 months to run.

Giving evidence, trading standards officer Natalie Hill said she spoke to a man who identified himself as John Wallman who confirmed all the cars, apart from a Vauxhall that was being dismantled, were for sale and could be test driven.

When Barbato arrived at the forecourt she asked him the same question, but he said not all could be driven because they didn’t have MOTs.

In interview under caution in December, Barbato, 55, said the defects on the Alfa should have been picked up and the Suzuki had not been properly checked.

“They are my responsibility to make sure they have been checked, obviously not presenting them for sale unless they are roadworthy,” he said.

Barbato’s defence was that the company clearly signposted vehicles without an MOT on their forecourt and never allowed such vehicles to be taken for test drives.

“There is absolutely no way we would allow these vehicles to be taken off our hands without an MOT and we have lost customers as a result of this but we have done what is right legally,” he said.

Stewart Patterson, defending, drew attention to internet adverts for three of the cars, which said they would be sold with a new MOT.

“At no point does it say that there is an existing MOT,” he said.

He also pointed out buyers could check a car’s MOT status on the internet.

“Mr Barbato has made significant changes to the way in which his business is run, he no longer advertises cars that don’t have an MOT on his website and he does not allow cars that are not roadworthy onto his forecourt,” said Mr Patterson.

Prosecutor Oliver Willmott said: “These cars were not roadworthy, he had not had time to check them, he admits that, but he still allowed them to be exposed for sale, on his forecourt for customers to get in, try the engine. This is the offence.”

Chairman of the magistrates Gail Chilcott said: “I find it remarkable that a responsible business would allow customers to browse the premises without fully trained staff or systems in place to differentiate between cars that have an MOT and those that do not.

"I can see that cars in an unroadworthy condition were found on the forecourt.

“For each of the four charges you will pay £1000 which is a total of £4000. You will pay a victim surcharge of £100 and court costs of £5,600 making a total of £9,700.”