BEWARE OF DEL BOY; We unmask the king of dodgy deals.Burly Derek Beach, the king of Britain's one-day sales scams, has been targeting hundreds of unsuspecting punters. Today the Sunday Mail can reveal that Beach, 55, has been secretly operating his dodgy dodgy - Synonym with flaky. Preferred outside the US rip- offs in Scotland for several months - using a false name. Last week we told how thousands of Scots are being conned in ruthless one-day sales scams across the country. Our hotline was flooded with scores of calls describing your horrific experiences at the hand of conmen like Beach. Further investigations have revealed more about this merchant of misery. Ten days ago, Beach was convicted on four charges relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc one- day sales at Brecon in Wales Wales, Welsh Cymru, western peninsula and political division (principality) of Great Britain (1991 pop. 2,798,200), 8,016 sq mi (20,761 sq km), west of England; politically united with England since 1536. The capital is Cardiff. . Del Boy - like dodgy trader Derek Trotter in Only Fools and Horses Only Fools and Horses is a British television sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan, and made and broadcast by the BBC. Seven series were originally broadcast in the UK between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003. - was ordered to pay pounds 800 compensation to his victims. Our picture of Beach was taken at the family cash-and-carry in Gloucester which supplies his one- day sales teams. He and his son Stephen are under investigation by trading standards officers throughout England and Scotland. Last month, Beach ran a series of one-day sales in the north-east of Scotland. One Sunday Mail reader Marlene Leech leech, predacious or parasitic annelid worm of the class Hirudinea, characterized by a cylindrical or slightly flattened body with suckers at either end for attaching to prey. , from Glasgow, confronted him in Portsoy after a sale in neighbouring Nairn where she was holidaying. Marlene, 35, had paid pounds 60 for a music centre. When she got home, she discovered there was only a tape machine and two speakers. Beach, calling himself Mr Peters, agreed to refund the money - only after Marlene threatened to stage a protest outside his Portsoy sale. It is believed that portly port·ly adj. port·li·er, port·li·est 1. Comfortably stout; corpulent. See Synonyms at fat. 2. Archaic Stately; majestic; imposing. [From port5. Beach and his team are behind a number of similar sales. Our hotline threw up scores of horror tales from the one-day sale rip- off merchants. Emily Wilson spent pounds 339 in Jury's Pond Hotel in Glasgow's West End last month on a kettle, vacuum cleaner vacuum cleaner, mechanical device using a draft of air to remove dust, loose dirt, or other particulate matter from dry surfaces. It is especially useful on highly textured surfaces, such as carpets and upholstery, that are difficult to clean by wiping or brushing. , microwave and camera which she claims were all faulty. Ronald Ross For the shinty player, see Ronald Ross (shinty player) Sir Ronald Ross KCB, (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was an Indian physician of Scottish origin. He was born in Almora, India as the son of General Sir C.C.G. Ross of the British Army. , 16, from Aberdeen, spent pounds 26 of his hard-earned cash last week at a one-day sale in the city's Windsor Court. He claims he bought a camera which snapped in two when he tried to insert a film, three cassette tapes which jammed when used, and a power drill which cut out when switched on. Kathleen O'Hara and husband Frank, both 62, from Stevenston in Ayrshire spent pounds 40 on an iron and camera at a sale in the Skean skean n. A double-edged dagger formerly used in Ireland and Scotland. [Middle English skene, from Irish Gaelic scian, from Old Irish scían; see skei- in Indo-European roots.] Dhu Hotel in nearby Irvine last month. When they got home, they say, the iron blew up and the camera didn't work. John McMonagle, 47, bought a shaver and CD stereo system for pounds 88 from a one- day sale in Kirkintilloch Town hall. He claims that he later discovered the shaver didn't work and there was no CD player with the stereo. Jim Bryce, 39, from Dundee, paid pounds 60 for a phone and answering machine at a one- day sale in Invergowrie, last Saturday. He says that when he got home he discovered neither worked. Mark McClelland, from Hurlford in Ayrshire, was stung for pounds 170 at a one day sale in May in the Broomhill Hotel in Kilmarnock. He claims that a calculator, watch and kettle didn't work while spanners in the tool box he bought snapped as soon as he used them. Muriel Barr, from Dunbeg, near Oban, paid pounds 60 for a camera at a sale two months ago. She took two sets of pictures with it and not one came out. Gordon Stewart, a security officer, from Clydebank, paid pounds 30 for what he thought was a video camera. He later found he had been sold a stills camera. Beach's son Stephen also has a lengthy list of convictions relating to one-day sales . Recently he was fined pounds 250 and ordered to pay pounds 75 costs for offences in Burnley. In June he was involved in a one-day sale in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, where customers were sold shoddy goods. Labour's Consumer Affairs spokesman Nigel Griffiths Nigel Griffiths MP (born May 20, 1955) is a British politician. He is the Labour Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South. Early life Nigel Griffiths was born in Glasgow, Scotland and was educated at the Hawick High School in the Scottish Borders before attending the , MP for Edinburgh South Edinburgh South may refer to:
He added: "When Labour get in to power, we will implement new legislation to stop these sharp practices. "This will give trading standards officers fresh powers to bring men like Beach to justice." Another Scots MP, Gordon Prentice Gordon Prentice (born January 28, 1951, Edinburgh) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is Labour Party Member of Parliament for Pendle and was first elected at the 1992 General Election. , has described Stephen Beach in the Commons as an "unscrupulous fraudster fraudster Noun a person who commits a fraud; swindler ." The one-day sales team usually hire a hall or hotel room, then advertise cut-price goods. Once the audience has gathered, the doors are locked and they are subjected to a sales pitch over several hours. By the time the victims get home and inspect what they have bought, the sales team have pulled out. The Beaches' solicitor, Conrad Gadd, confirmed his clients had a number of convictions for breaching trading standards regulations. Meanwhile, Muriel Barr spoke for all the victims when she said: "I am furious that these people are allowed to get away with this." The message is clear. If the price seems too good to be true, it IS too good to be true - keep your cash in your pocket. |
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