Jail for Shropshire businessman who ruined couple's wedding

Jeremy Harris operated a number of Market Drayton-based companies including Harris Classic Ltd and Shropshire Poultry Ltd, Telford Magistrates Court heard.

Mr Kevin Saunders, prosecuting on behalf of Shropshire Council, said he took thousands of pounds from 10 customers for orders that were never delivered. ordered twin tubs, hog roasts and stables, but failed to deliver.

He said Gillian Robotham had ordered a hog roast for 100 people in order to celebrate her wedding in August 2014. She paid £625 and only found out on the day that it would not be delivered.

In a victim impact statement, she said it had caused “considerable distress” with guests having to drive 10 miles to shop for food before taking over the catering themselves.

Mr Saunders said another customer paid a £500 deposit for a hog roast to cater for a joint birthday party on the same day, but again it failed to arrive.

Several orders for stables were taken with customers paying between £830 and £2,150 each time, but nothing was delivered.

The court heard the 43-year-old failed to issue refunds and there were “multiple complaints” and “persistent failures to communicate with customers” both in Shropshire and further afield in the UK.

Mr Saunders said it led to some customers seeking county court judgements, with the sums still outstanding.

He said despite Harris failing to deliver to a string of customers, his companies carried on taking further orders.

Harris, of Main Street, Wolston, Coventry, faced 10 counts of being knowingly a party to the carrying on of a business for a fraudulent purpose between 2014 and 2016.

The father-of-seven initially denied the offences but pleaded guilty on the day of his trial.

In mitigation, the court was told Harris was extremely ill at the time and had delegated the running of his businesses to his son Andrew.

Mr John Dove, defending, said he had not started out with the intent to defraud customers and another 30 customers were satisfied with their orders in the same time period.

The court heard how he was now £15,000 in debt and works for a transport company moving furniture around.

District Judge Nigel Cadbury said he had left a “trail of misery, anxiety and distress” behind him and had ruined someone’s wedding day.

Harris was jailed for 12 months and ordered to pay £2,680 compensation to three of the victims. Others were granted county court judgements or have been issued refunds through their bank.District Judge Cadbury He was also disqualified him from being a director or managing any company for five years.