A property developer who fraudulently took almost £50,000 from victims of the 2015 floods was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment at York Crown Court on the 7th of August 2018.
Owen Danter, aged 40 and from East Yorkshire, was the sole director of OTD Development Ltd before he voluntarily liquidated the company on 20 April 2017. He was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment in relation to the 12 charges of Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading for which he had previously pleaded guilty on 19 June 2018.
The charges related to building work by the defendants at two neighbouring addresses on Huntington Road, which both suffered extensive flooding in December 2015. Both properties had to be vacated by the owners due to the extent of the flood damage.
In June 2016, Danter was employed to carry out the required repairs at both addresses. Goods were paid for but not supplied. Between June 2016 and February 2017 both consumers were invoiced and paid for goods and services, totalling almost £50,000, which did not materialise.
In February 2017, with both properties still uninhabitable Danter left the properties for good, claiming he had suffered a complete breakdown.
Cllr Nigel Ayre, executive member responsible for Trading Standards, said: “Deliberately taking people’s money and not carrying out the work would have a significant impact on most people. But to knowingly inflict that on residents who were in a vulnerable situation following the 2015 floods is far worse.”
