A camper van conversion company which has carried out work for singer Madonna and film director Guy Ritchie has been ordered to pay more than £2,500 for its dangerous work.
Dayne Bartlett, 46, of Touch of Class Upholstery at Penallta Road and Robert Kerr, age 49, of Hengoed Hall Gardens appeared before Newport Magistrates’ Court on Friday June 12 charged with producing a product that was not safe.
Both were prosecuted by Caerphilly County Borough Council Trading Standards.
The case came to light after the owner of the camper van, a gentleman from Weston-Super-Mare, contacted the council’s Trading Standards having paid £7,000 to have a cooker and bed installed in the van.
Trading Standards found the camper van’s gas cooker was not installed properly and neither was the seatbelt for the bed.
Both Bartlett and Kerr pleaded not guilty to two charges contrary to the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and Kerr pleaded not guilty to one offence under the same law.
After a trial, the pair were found guilty of the offences.
Bartlett was found guilty of supplying a camper van that was in a dangerous condition because of the gas installation and seatbelt.
Kerr was convicted in relation to the gas installation, as he had certified that it was safe, and caused Bartlett to supply the vehicle.
Bartlett was fined £900, ordered to pay £1,950.85 costs to the council and pay a victim surcharge of £45. Kerr was fined £450, ordered to pay costs to the council of £975 and a victim surcharge of £45.
The court was told how the seatbelt anchorage was insecure and dangerous and was screwed to some plywood instead of being bolted to the vehicle’s body.
The cooker was also found to have 14 defects by experts.
Cllr Nigel George, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Public Protection said: “The irresponsible actions of this pair could so easily have resulted in a very serious, potentially dangerous incident – and it is fortunate that the customer had the foresight to contact our Trading Standards team about this in order that they were able to be investigated.
“Our officers, as residents will know, work relentlessly to ensure that the small minority who continue to attempt to dupe unsuspecting customers who are willing to pay a fair price for a quality service, are brought to task.
“We simply will not allow these practices to take place in our county borough, and I’d encourage anyone with any information on individuals carrying out illegal, dangerous or unfair practices in Caerphilly County Borough to get in touch confidentially with our Trading Standards team to report it.”