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Search forRaid hero is guilty of illegal clamping
09:00 - 25-July-2008
Iain Watson, pictured, aged 31, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of 20 counts of fraud following a two-day trial three weeks ago.
He also asked for 65 other offences to be taken into consideration. The charges related to offences committed in Crewe between January 24 and September 3 last year.
Watson, of Greenway, Crewe, who was awarded a Crown Prosecution Service commendation when he helped arrest two bank robbers in Crewe in February last year, spent thousands of pounds setting up his own business, Clamping Enforcement Agency.
But he was refused a clamping licence from the Security Industry Authority in November, after applying for it five months earlier, because he had a caution for burglary in 2003.
The court was told Watson continued to clamp despite receiving a letter telling him he was not allowed.
Prosecutor Paul Smith said Watson had clamped people who were parked on private land, mainly behind Breedon House in Crewe.
He said: “Watson admitted he wasn't licensed to clamp, but by the time he was refused his license he had already invested a lot of money in the business.”
Watson was arrested on September 5 last year after a Crewe businessman, who was clamped by Watson, checked and noticed the former nightclub doorman was not registered with the SIA.
During the trial the court heard victims reported having to pay release fees of between £75 and £125 to Watson. Judge Charlotte Jones ordered Watson to pay a total of £8,860 compensation to his victims at a rate of £250 a month. The court was told that the business is still trading and being run by a licensed clamper.
Judge Jones told Watson: “These are serious offences involving deception. Members of the public were led to believe that you were entitled to take their money and their cars.
“There is a need to deter others from operating this type of business illegally, but I take the view that you can put something back into the community which you deceived and pay back the victims of your crimes.”
Rachel White, SIA head of investigation, said: “Anyone can use the SIA online Register of Licence Holders to check whether someone holds a valid SIA licence.”
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