Two former estate agents who carried out a £250,000 property survey fraud have both been sent to jail for 16 months. A third has been given a 16-month suspended sentence.
The trio, who carried out estate agency work in Cumbria, were sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court.
They were Donald Smith, 55, his wife Lynne, 54, both from Stybarrow in Windermere, and their former business partner Simon Hindle, 52, of Stroud, Gloucestershire. At an earlier hearing, they had admitted fraud and deception.
Hindle and Donald Smith were both jailed while Lynne Smith was given a 16-month term, suspended for 24 months, and ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.
At a previous hearing, the court was told that for seven years the three charged for work which they claimed qualified surveyors had carried out but which they actually did themselves.
Comments
Why unpaid work? Why not prison?
Just do not see the sense in this.
160 hours of unpaid work...just a normal week then?