A CAR salesman who committed a £28,900 fraud on customers of his Bromsgrove business has been jailed for 30 months at Worcester Crown Court.

Mark Jones, aged 37, of Brandwood Crescent, Kings Norton, Birmingham, denied seven allegations of fraud, dating back to 2009, but was found guilty by a jury after a trial at Hereford Crown Court.

Lee Marklew, prosecuting, said that four of Jones’ victims had given statements telling of their emotions of ‘humiliation and anxiety’ and loss of money, putting a strain on their finances and relationships.

The trial had heard that Jones, whose company was Diamond Salvage in Bromsgrove, took cash for crashed cars that had been repaired – but the customers never got the vehicles or their money back.

Tayyab Khan, defending, said Jones had worked hard to raise his family but had been suffering from depression after the still birth of a child.

He said he had the full intention of meeting his commitment to his customers and was not a professional criminal but things had gone badly in his business and he was suffering ill health, added Mr Khan.

He said police contacted Jones about the allegations in July 2012.

Judge Richard Rundell , sitting at Worcester, told Jones the fraud had totalled just short of £29,000 over the course of nearly a year.

He had taken customers’ money, saying he would provide them with vehicles in a short space of time – but they did not get their cars or their money back.

“These transactions were plainly fraudulent and plainly dishonest,” added the judge.