Clamping gang 'milked public out of £500,000'

Five members of a Midland car clamping operation which used motorists "as a licence to print money" have been jailed for a total of almost eight years.

Judge John Cavell condemned them for "milking" the public out of up to £500,000. Victims including meter readers, a disabled woman with a blue badge, and an NHS worker transporting blood samples.

Andrew Minshull, Debbie Worton, Simon Barry, Christopher Cartwright and Faisal Qadeer remained impassive in the dock as Judge Cavell passed custodial sentences ranging between 12 and 32 months.

Sentencing at Worcester Crown Court yesterday he said Minshull's firm, Redditch-based Midland Parking Contracts, had frequently targeted and exploited vulnerable members of society.

Describing Midland Parking Contracts' treatment of drivers between 2006 and 2009 as disgraceful, Judge Cavell told the defendants: "It is of course something that most people accept, that illegal parking can cause very real problems to traders and other people and there can be no reasonable objection to the control of illegal parking by legitimate and proper enforcement.

"What of course is wholly wrong is the use of enforcement measures not to provide a service to help traders and others suffering from illegally-parked cars, but to use the company as a vehicle to obtain money dishonestly from the public by blatant abuse of authority and power."

Victims were targeted in Redditch, Nuneaton, Evesham, Worcester, Coventry, Bromsgrove, and Cheltenham between March 2006 and August 2009.

Warning signs were either not prominent, were obscured by a company vehicle, or on at least one occasion were erected after motorists had parked.

A sixth defendant, from Birmingham, has also admitted conspiracy to defraud and will be sentenced at a later date.

Minshull, described by the judge as the "main man", was jailed for 32 months, while his ex-partner, Debbie Worton received 12 months.

Barry was given a 21-month jail term, while both Cartwright and Qadeer, who selected victims in their roles as frontline operatives, were jailed for 15 months.

Minshull, aged 38, of Hatfield Close, Redditch; Worton, 43, of Longdon Close, Redditch; Barry, 38, of Lilac Close, Evesham; Cartwright, 31, of Salisbury Drive, Kidderminster; and Qadeer, 35, of Mount Pleasant, Redditch, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud.