Garage that ‘held cars to ransom’ raided

Bray Engineering in Southall, west London, attracted business from all over the country by advertising on the internet with extremely low prices.

But customers who complained when additional payments were taken off their credit cards were allegedly threatened, while the garage refused to return their vehicles, police said.

Some have said it took months to get their cars back, with one van owner waiting two years.

One customer who booked in to have his engine reconstituted said he checked the engine number and found it had been replaced with a model from the 1970s.

Another who phoned up to complain about her daughter’s car was allegedly warned off by a man who told her: “I’ll come around and rape you and your daughter.”

A typical quote of £1,900 for work would allegedly often be doubled.

The garage, which featured in a recent Sky News investigation and has operated under several different names is run by Paul Dockerill and his sons, Martin and Harry.

About 75 officers carried out simultaneous raids at the garage and two home addresses.

Paul Dockerill, 45, and his son Martin, 23, both from Guildford, who were at the garage, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud and assault.

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Rowell, Ealing Borough Commander, said 30 complaints had been made against the garage from around the country already this year.

“The allegations we have been investigating include threats of violence, intimidation and assault,” he said. “What we have here is bad business treading the fine line between civil dispute and criminality.

“We suggest they’ve crossed that line.

“The level of complaints we have been receiving about this premises had to be acted upon.”

Police said it was one of the worst alleged cases of a garage defrauding customers that they had come across.

About 29 people were working at the garage when police descended in six vehicles and rushed into the premises.

The garage used the website www.reconditioned-engines.co.uk.