A KBB retailer recently found guilty of fraud has now been sentenced to jail time.
Staffordshire-based business owner Richard Stubbs, 55, and his co-accused, Carl Egerton, 54, were both handed guilty verdicts in May. Stubbs was found guilty of three charges of fraudulent trading, seven charges of fraud, and two charges of intending to pervert the course of public justice.
Stubbs has now been sentenced to five-and-a-half years behind bars, and Egerton has received a 16-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months.
At his verdict hearing, the court heard how Stubbs’ took money upfront from customers for home renovation projects with no intention of completing the work. The court accused him of fitting products that were different to what clients had ordered, and said he also avoided requests from clients to rectify major project mistakes.
During his trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, the courtroom heard testimony from Stubbs’ former customers, who paid more than £134,000 for KBB projects which were never completed.
Stubbs sold kitchens and bathrooms to consumers through a business called Idesign Kitchens & Bathrooms Ltd and then subsequently by Peak Kitchens & Bathrooms. Both companies have now been fined £57,827 and £23,292, respectively. Stubbs has also been disqualified from being a company director for the next ten years.
Egerton, a builder who carried out work on behalf of Stubbs was also ordered to pay £2,500 in costs and must undertake 100 hours of unpaid work, in addition to his sentence.
Handing down his ruling, Judge Graeme Smith said that Stubbs acted the way he did because he felt entitled to live a decadent lifestyle. He said: “I am satisfied that the main reason for the failure of the company was the extraction of funds by Stubbs to maintain his lifestyle. It was clear from your evidence, Richard Stubbs, you felt you were working hard so you were entitled to a certain lifestyle.
“That included regular trips to a property in Spain, other trips, and watching your football club. The profits of your company were insufficient to maintain this lifestyle. You chose to prioritise yourself. You must have been aware of the money coming in and going out of the company and that there was a shortfall.
He concluded: “I accept you did not target victims on the basis of vulnerability. You were indiscriminating. You have a tendency to blame everybody but yourself for what was happening.”