Bankruptcy, victims defrauded of pension savings and now a jail sentence — this is the legacy of former Knaresborough luxury car dealer Andrew Mearns.

Mearns was handed a two-and-a-half year prison sentence at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday (August 14) after admitting a string of fraud offences relating to his business between 2015 and 2020.

The 57-year-old’s offences were committed while he was owner of Gmund Cars Ltd.

At one stage, the company was a thriving business dealing in luxury cars, especially Porsches. Now, it no longer exists and Mearns is in prison.

Here is how the story unravelled.

Incorporation

Gmund Cars Ltd was set up on December 8, 2006, by Andrew Mearns and his wife Samantha Mearns, who was a former Conservative councillor for Knaresborough Scriven Park on Harrogate Borough Council.

The firm was founded for the purpose of restoring and selling classic cars. It specialised in the sale, service and restoration of classic Porsches and other high-end cars.

Mearns served as director, while Ms Mearns was company secretary until December 2018.

The firm forged a reputation among classic car enthusiasts and operated six days a week from unit 14 on Nidd Valley Business Park at Scotton, near Knaresborough. The business park housed its office, showroom and workshop for restoration work.

Mearns dealt with customers whose cars could be worth £80,000 and in some cases offered to sell them on a “sale or return” basis.

The company continued to bask in its high reputation in 2018, when Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough at the time, endorsed it as an “amazing business” on December 1. 

Mr Jones even had his picture taken alongside Mearns and Ms Mearns, who worked in his office.

There is no suggestion that Mr Jones was aware of the allegations of fraud at the time.

While Mearns and his company continued to trade in high value classic cars and benefit from the publicity of politicians, things started to unravel.

Allegations

In December 2018, Ms Mearns stepped down as company secretary.

Ms Mearns later told the Stray Ferret she was never interviewed by police in relation to the fraud allegations.

In 2020, the Stray Ferret spoke to six victims who said they had been defrauded out of pensions, life savings and time off from work to see terminally ill parents as a result of not receiving money from the sale of their cars.

One of the victims’, Anthony Place, said he lost more than £52,000 after taking his Porsche 924 Carrera GT to Gmund Cars in August 2018.

The car was supposed to be sold on a “sale or return” basis. But, he did not receive any money.

The DVLA sent Mr Place a notice in March 2019 to say his car had changed ownership, but he never received any money from the sale. After a couple months of trying to get answers, Mr Place lost his patience.

He went to Gmund for an open day where more than 200 people were in attendance. He printed t-shirts, painted on the side of one of his other cars and even paid for an aircraft to carry a banner. 

The message read: "Where's my £52,495 Gmund?". 

The volume of complaints led North Yorkshire Police to launch an investigation into Mearns.

Despite the allegations, the company continued to trade until May 2019 when it was placed in administration.

Mearns wound down the firm’s operations and dismissed all employees on May 29 that year.

The following month, Julian Pitts and Richard Kenworthy, of Begbies Traynor, were appointed joint administrators.

Gradually, the state of Gmund Cars was laid bare.

£1m in claims

The administrator's report from June 2020 found more than £1 million in claims stacked up against the business.

The company's assets, including tools,a van and equipment from its premises, were later valued and sold for just £19,000.

Meanwhile, in a statement of proposals drawn up by Mr Pitts and Mr Kenworthy, they said sales income at the firm had reduced to a level that its £25,000 in overheads were no longer being covered.

According to the report, Mearns blamed Brexit and “decline in trade” for the company’s demise.

The report said:

Meanwhile, administrators also pointed out that in the two years prior to the administration, Mearns and Gmund Cars Ltd had come into dispute with “a dozen customers” who were owed “significant amounts” and had “taken varying levels of action to recover amounts they believed they are owed”.

The company was later dissolved and Mearns was declared bankrupt.

Mearns charged

Despite the complaints and demise of Gmund Cars, it was not until May 2023 that Mearns appeared in court to face allegations of fraud.

Wearing a white shirt and grey trousers, he appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court accused of 13 counts of fraud by false representation between 2015 and 2020 — this was later increased to 16 counts.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service indictment, Mearns failed to pay 16 separate victims after selling their vehicles.

Mearns, who had moved to Colwyn Place in Llandudno, Wales, at the time of his first court appearance initially did not enter a plea to the charges.

He later denied the 16 counts of fraud at a hearing at York Crown Court in June 2023 and was set to stand trial.

In 2024, he was volunteering for the RNLI in Llandudno and was awarded a certificate by the RSPCA after saving a seal pup that had made it across a busy road and onto a pavement after washing ashore.

But in October 2025, Mearns' past caught up with him when he finally relented and admitted the fraud charges.

Now, more than a decade since allegations were made against the former luxury car dealer, the saga has come to a close with him being jailed for 14 counts of fraud.

Some victims have recovered their losses — but others remain out of pocket and without a car.

Mearns will now serve time behind bars for his crimes. But, for some, life savings and time with loved ones have forever been lost.