Falmouth car mechanic abandoned vehicle in car park after agreeing to repair it

A Falmouth mechanic charged a customer £4,000 to carry out repairs on a van and then abandoned the vehicle in a supermarket car park.

42 year-old Jamie Leigh Wright appeared at Bodmin Magistrates’ Court on the 23rd of July for sentencing after previously being found guilty of fraud.

Cornwall Council’s Trading Standards team found that Wright, of Azenor Avenue, Falmouth, agreed to replace an engine in a Volkswagen van in July 2024 for £3,954.

In order to finance the repairs, the customer took out a loan. The customer then paid Wright in advance.

Wright told the customer that it would only take two weeks to replace the engine, but then kept giving excuses as to why the work hadn’t been done.

Wright eventually left the van in a supermarket car park. It was subsequently recovered and sold at an auction as an abandoned vehicle.

In total the customer lost the van, worth an estimated £6,000, as well as the £3,954 he paid Wright for the repair.

Wright was sentenced to 26 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years for offence. He had also been convicted in October 2024 for fraud in relation to similar vehicle repair issues.

The magistrates suspended the sentence after hearing that Wright was no longer a mechanic and had found new employment.

He was also ordered to pay the victim £10,000 in compensation.

Councillor Thalia Marrington, cabinet member with responsibility for Community Safety and Public Health at Cornwall Council, said: “I’d like to thank our Trading Standards team for bringing this individual to justice and securing compensation for the victim.

“This prosecution sends a very clear message that we will not allow people to rip off Cornwall’s residents.”