Men jailed for selling unrefrigerated fish from back of van in Castleton

Traders pressured vulnerable people into paying hundreds for large quantities of fish from the back of an unrefrigerated van

Three men have been jailed after pressuring elderly local residents into buying unrefrigerated and unwanted fish from the back of a transit van.

Two years ago, a suspicious van was spotted doing the rounds in Castleton.

Traders had reportedly been targeting elderly people, pressuring them into paying hundreds of pounds for large quantities of unwanted and unrefrigerated fish from the back of the van.
 

Read more: Castleton police seize fishy vanPublished: 12 June 2019

The Pennines police team have now confirmed that three men were sentenced at Teeside Crown Court earlier this month after being charged with fraud and consumer protection offences.

The business owner was sentenced to 5 years and 11 months’ imprisonment whilst two members of the company were each sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment.

Sgt Matt Honey said: “Over the course of the last few months North East trading standards have been progressing with the case and thanks in part to evidence gathered by our team, three males were prosecuted with fraud and consumer protection offences.

“This aggressive style of fraudulent trading is a serious issue as often it is our most vulnerable members of the community who are targeted.

“This won’t be tolerated in the Pennine area and neighbourhood officers have a great working relationship with council officers and we often work alongside each other to investigate cases of this nature.”

Contact a local relative, neighbour or friend if you think someone is a rogue trader or call 101 or contact your local Trading Standards team.