Wolverhampton trader sold 'potentially lethal' cut-and-shut car

The advert in Autotrader for the six-year-old car boasted that the vehicle 'looks and drives amazing', adding 'very low genuine mileage. Very nice looking car at absolute give away price. Cheapest in country. New Shape. Do not miss'.

But Mr Robert Marshall, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Magistrates Court: "In fact it was two cars badly welded together. It was a highly dangerous vehicle that was not roadworthy."

It had 16 major faults but was not scrapped until after Hugh Welsh unwittingly drove the Clio on an eight-and-a-half-hour trip home.

The 44-year-old put a £150 deposit into the bank account of car trader Yaser Fazal to have it held for him and then drove with his son to Wolverhampton from Scotland to buy it.

Mr Welsh paid the rest of the £2,000 price in cash to the 28-year-old trickster after arriving at AS Autos in Cable Street, Monmore Green, on November 1, 2013.

He managed to get just four of the 300-plus miles home before the problems started but his call for help to Fazal went unanswered, so he continued the journey followed by his son in their other car.

The Clio would not go faster than 50mph on the motorway and continued to judder alarmingly as the steering pulled to one side.

When he got to his home near Loch Lomond the car was taken to a local garage which said it was so dangerous it should be scrapped.

Mr Welsh contacted Fazal who refused to take any responsibility or offer a refund, so he alerted Wolverhampton Trading Standards department who asked Stewart Cumming, an independent vehicle engineer, with 30 years experience in the motor industry, to check the Clio.

He identified 16 major faults that included buckled wheels, insecure brake pipes, a badly repaired chassis, insecure suspension sub frame and excessive free play in the steering column. In addition the horn, a front side light, the screen washers and seat belts did not work.

Mr Cumming concluded: "This was one of the worst, if not the worst, attempted repairs I have ever seen. If it was involved in any sort of collision there is the very strong possibility that the front sub frame and section would break away from the remainder of the vehicle." He said passengers would be in peril.

Fazal, a taxi driver who had been trading cars for five years, failed to attend two interviews with Trading Standards before finally being quizzed on March 17 last year. The Clio was crushed two months later after being sold for £200 for scap.

The father-of-two from Marsh Lane, Fordhouses, Wolverhampton, was found guilty of supplying a dangerous product after denying the offence.

Fazal, of previous good character, was given a 12 month community order with 120 hours unpaid work and told to pay £2,360 in costs and compensation.

Mr Welsh said after the case: "That man had no morals. I thought it was a bargain and accept that I was gullible but I told him the car was to be an 18th birthday present for my daughter who had just passed her test. He either knew, or should have known, that it was a potential death trap."