OFTEC has supplied a witness statement as part of an investigation by Trading Standards. Bristol Crown Court heard that Wade Jeffery had used several business names and falsely claimed they were registered with Gas Safe, the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE), and OFTEC.
When Trading Standards officers posed as consumers, Jeffery drove to the job, despite being a convicted disqualified driver. He was arrested and later found to have invoices totalling £15,000 for work involving his bogus companies. The court also heard that on one occasion Jeffery turned up at a customer’s home smelling of alcohol and, after falling off a worktop, he punched the boiler he was supposed to be working on.
Jeffery pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and three counts of engaging in an unfair commercial practice between January and December 2010, and was jailed for a year.
Registrations revoked
Technicians Wil Bradshaw of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and Lenny Sandford of Stowmarket, Suffolk, have had their OFTEC registrations revoked for not complying with rectification notices issued against them. Both came as a result of customer complaints.