Home insulation firm boss jailed for fraud

The director of a home insulation company who encouraged his sales staff to "systematically" bully and lie to vulnerable customers has been jailed.

John Beckett – whose businesses were the subject of a BBC Rip Off Britain investigation in 2018 – was found guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court of two counts of fraudulent trading.

Police said the 41-year-old's two firms, NRG Installs Ltd and The Insulate Group Ltd, turned over £8m between 2017 and 2018 before they closed.

Beckett, of Canford Magna, Poole, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison.

Officers identified 28 victims of Beckett's companies - operating from a call centre in Hinton Road, Bournemouth - around the country.

They also uncovered scripts used by his staff containing unsubstantiated and misleading statements.

These included claims they could reduce a customer's heating bill by 40%, falsely stating that prices could be reduced via age-related discount codes, and charging different amounts for the same products.

Unbeknown to police at the time, the BBC was also investigating Beckett and he was captured discussing changing his companies' corporate identity and feigning a mental illness to stop the programme being aired.

Det Insp Jamie Halford, of Dorset Police, said: "Our investigation found that Beckett was operating two corrupt and fraudulent businesses.

"He encouraged his sales staff to persistently and systematically lie in order to deceive, mislead and bully customers who were known to be vulnerable in order to make as much money as possible.

"This was a lengthy investigation, which saw us work with various Trading Standards teams across the country and expert chartered surveyors in order to build a strong case against Beckett.

"The work of Beckett's companies had a lasting effect on some victims, who encountered difficulties when trying to sell their properties due to the spray foam that was installed when it was not required."

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