A COUPLE who bought a second hand car so they could take their Down’s Syndrome daughter around in comfort and safety found it was “dangerous”.
The Rover car bought at Broughton Car Sales near Chester for £399 was unroadworthy, a court heard.
Flintshire magistrates were told it had rusted brake pipes and defective rear suspension bushes – the rubber component in the suspension arm which assisted with stability and road holding.
The garage proprietor Simon Salter, of Rake Lane in Little Stanney, admitted a charge of supplying a vehicle in an unroadworthy condition.
But after listening to the case, magistrates said he had voluntarily done everything possible to put things right and so gave him a conditional discharge for two years. He was also ordered to pay £685 costs.
Bryoni Tomlinson, prosecuting for Flintshire County Council Trading Standards department, said the couple bought the car on July 17 last year.
Later that month, it was put into a local garage for service when the faults were discovered.
She said the buyers were on a low income and wanted a car to get their child around in comfort and safety.
Tony Nelson, defending, said Salter had the car inspected by his own expert and immediately accepted that the faults existed. He had not been aware of them at the time and was concerned at what had taken place.
The court heard Salter was a man of good character, running his own business, who had never encountered such a problem before.
He had paid full compensation to the complainants before the matter came to court.
Salter is not a rogue trader, stressed Mr Nelson, who added that procedures had been changed to prevent such a thing happening again.
He pleaded guilty immediately and “profusely apologised” for what had occurred.
