A Porsche fanatic who ran a car dealership selling high-value sports cars has been jailed after committing fraud in a desperate bid to save his failing business.

John Patrick Hawkins was the owner and director of Specialist Cars of Malton Ltd (SCML), and was well-known in the business for trading expensive vehicles - and in particular his favourite Porsches.

However, his business collapsed into liquidation and he is now behind bars after turning to crime in a bid to save it.

North Yorkshire Police said Hawkins defrauded customers out of £1.5m despite the fact he became friends with many of them through their shared love of the Porsche sports cars.

However when officers analysed the accounts of the business, they discovered the money he was receiving from customers was being used to pay off an overdraft which was increasing year-on-year after his business slowed down.

Bradford Crown Court heard 66-year-old Hawkins used various methods to try and keep the business afloat - all of them dishonest - including:

- keeping money he had received from selling vehicles given to him to sell on a ‘sale or return’ basis

- selling vehicles being stored at SCML without the owners’ knowledge or agreement

John Patrick Hawkins, 66, was owner and director of Specialist Cars of Malton Ltd (SCML), and well-known in the business of trading expensive vehicles | NYP

placeholder image — John Patrick Hawkins, 66, was owner and director of Specialist Cars of Malton Ltd (SCML), and well-known in the business of trading expensive vehicles | NYP

- selling shares in vehicles he did not own

- obtaining large sums of money advanced to him under finance agreements he was not entitled to enter into

- when confronted by customers wanting their money, he gave personal guarantees and assigned ownership of other vehicles he did not own as security

SCML was placed into liquidation in February 2020, and many of his customers had to take legal action in a bid to recover their interest in some of the vehicles which had passed throught Hawkins’ hands.

These included a man Hawkins called one of his closest friends, who had to sell his belongings to avoid losing his house after he was persuaded to invest money which he never saw again.

Others were relying on the sale of the vehicles as part of their retirement plan, and some of his customers never received any money in return at all.

Hawkins was interviewed by police in August 2020 and provided a prepared statement in which he claimed he had acted honestly throughout and co-operated with administrators.

He then answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.

However when he appeared in court Hawkins, of Coneysthorpe, Malton, pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading from late 2018 onwards, accepting that the total loss to those he deceived was £1.5 million.

On Friday (Jan 9), he was jailed for five years and three months, and issued with a ten-year Directors Disqualification Order.

A further court hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act is due to follow later this year.

North Yorkshire Police fraud investigator Constable Emma Harris said: “In order to maintain the façade of a successful business, Hawkins lied to customers time and time again, and falsified documents to give credence to those lies.

“The financial and emotional impact on his victims has been nothing short of devastating, and it is right that he now faces a lengthy prison sentence.”