Bristol conman Nick Morley jailed for Jaguar car sales fraud
A conman car dealer who offered to sell people's luxury cars but did not pay them has been jailed for fraud.
Nick Morley defrauded up to 35 people while running NM Jags and was called "thoroughly dishonest" and a "practised fraudster".
Most of the victims duped into the sale-or-return scam were Jaguar owners, Bristol Crown Court heard.
He was jailed for five years and eight months and banned from holding the directorship of a company for 10 years.
Dave Trotter, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: "People would advertise their cars in various publications, such as Autotrader, which are these days done online.
"There'd be a member of staff within the business who would then contact the seller saying 'we can sell your car for you and get you a better return' and 'we can take the hassle away from you'.
"And all they end up getting is double hassle because regularly there'd be no payment or a battle to get any payment."
Fraud victim Roger Aldridge agreed a £15,000 sale price for his Sports Jaguar.
He said: "I made a mistake in trusting him. I was taken in by a good website. I talked to his employees and they all seemed to know what they were talking about."
One of Morley's employees, Michael Horton, was also convicted for his part in the fraud and is awaiting sentence.
Morley, from Bristol, ran NM Jags dealerships across Bristol at Temple Cloud, Hartcliffe Way, Whitchurch and in Weston-super-Mare and had a turnover of between £5-6m.