Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FORMER MAYOR AMONG 11 BANNED DIRECTORS
Car dealer is fined for lies about motor NI Events firm cost taxpayers £1.6m in losses
A CAR dealer has been fined £500 for selling a damaged vehicle as one in “mint condition”.
Trading Standards brought the case against Paul Devlin of Ardmore Drive in Hilltown, Co Down.
It followed a complaint from the buyer who had to stump up for costly repairs.
Twenty-six-year-old Devlin pleaded guilty to two charges under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 at Newry Magistrates Court yesterday.
The female buyer was also given compensation.
Trading Standards revealed the vehicle had previously been declared a Category C insurance loss.
Julie Harrison of the Trading Standards said: “Consumers should be provided with accurate information to help them make informed decisions when purchasing goods.” A FORMER Belfast Mayor is among 11 directors banned from business after the quango they sat on left taxpayers with a £1.6million debt.
The disqualifications come almost two years after the Northern Ireland Events Company’s former chief was disqualified for 14 years.
Janice Mcaleese ran the publiclyfunded organisation – overseen by the former Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure – from 2003 to 2007.
She resigned shortly before the firm’s serious financial problems surfaced in a scandal dubbed one of the worst since devolution.
Now the Department for the Economy has disqualified Belfast man Mervyn Elder, 73, from operating a business for nine years.
And 74-year-old former Belfast Lord Mayor Jim Rodgers, from Holywood, Co Down got the same ban for five years.
Also barred for that timescale are Gerry Lennon, 53, of Moira, James Clarke, 67, of Belfast; Thomas Alan Clarke, 66, of Belfast; Paul Henry Mcwilliams, 80, of Templepatrick; William White, 62, of Belfast, Aideen Corr, 64, of Derry, Victor Haslett, 78 of the Algarve, Portugal, and Catherine Williamson, 52, from Belfast.
Jasper Perry, 40, of Davenport, England, was disqualified for eight years on October 26 last year.
Alderman Rodgers – a former Belfast High Sherriff, former deputy and two times Lord Mayor of Belfast – hit out at the decision.
He has had to give up directorships at the Grand Opera House and Belfast Hills Partnership as a result.
He said: “I think it’s a disgrace the way the board members have been treated.
“We were there doing our level best to get the latest and biggest events into Northern Ireland.
“Senior civil servants have got away scot-free and I would hope if the Assembly gets up and running they will look into this.
“Who would want to serve on a public body if they are going to do this. At no time did they indicate they were not happy with the way the organisation was being run.”
NI Events Company Ltd was set up in 1997 to organise and promote sporting, cultural and recreational events.
In Novemeber 2008 inspectors were appointed to investigate it. The NI Audit Office found Ms Mcaleese was involved in fabricating documents provided to DCAL and her board of directors.
She also failed to disclose a personal relationship with a contractor paid £120,000 for a motocross event.
The department received the report on March 31, 2014 and decided to issue proceedings against the board members.
They said the directors shared collective responsibility for failing to prevent Ms Mcaleese from fabricating an overdraft facility for £200,000.
And that they failed to provide adequate oversight and control.
They signed off on contracts incurring liabilities of £1.6million at a time when the company was in financial difficulties.