A man branded as Northhamptonshire’s worst ever conman after ripping off hundreds of people has been forced to hand over £66,000 to the authorities.
Kenneth Hornsby was sentenced to three years in prison in 2003 after an investigation revealed refrigeration repairs he had carried out in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire were bogus.
Hornsby traded as 21 Century Refrigeration and Counties Refrigeration during 2000 and 2001 and made more than £350,000 by telling customers he had repaired their fridge, even though the appliance would never work again.
He was eventually arrested, sent to prison and ordered to pay back £108,953, but he only managed to hand over £700.
But following a five-year investigation by Trading Standards in which they investigated 19 cases officials have seized £66,000 of his assets.
Another £66,231 has also been confiscated from relatives of Hornsby after the council received information that his family was in possession of some of his assets.
Liz Tavener, county council cabinet member for community safety, said: “I am delighted trading standards have continued to pursue this rogue over many years.
“He is the worst conman dealt with by this authority and by taking this action it sends a clear message to those who commit consumer crime that they will not only be prosecuted but also end up losing their ill-gotten gains.”
Hornsby had previous convictions dating back to 1980.
In all the cases officials investigated Trading Standards found that residents were paying him between £110 and £320 for repairs that in some cases left potentially life-threatening equipment.
None of his customers could get in touch with him because he used a myriad of false names and accommodation addresses to hide his identity, while actually running the business from a house in Oxfordshire.
We say, brilliant! It’s rogues like this that give the vast majority of honest repairers a bad name and the more rogues caught, the better.