DODGY car dealers working under the guidance of a man banned from working in the motor trade have appeared in court.

Nasser Asfi, received a seven year ban from being involved in the motor trade after being found guilty of selling dangerous vehicles to unsuspecting customers in 2015.

Mr Asfi and two other men have been prosecuted by the Shared Regulatory Services after they were found to be selling vehicles which were unsafe and had been misdescribed from Autobuy Cardiff Limited, a used car sales business operating from Barry Road, Barry.

Port Talbot man Zahid Rasul was the director of the company, while his son, Abdullah Rasul was employed as the manager.

The business was found by Trading Standards Officers to be selling vehicles which were falsely described with regard to condition, the number of owners, applicable warranty, and MOT and road tax status.  Some of the cars were in an unsafe and dangerous condition.

Cardiff Crown Court court also heard that the men failed to inform potential buyers that vehicles had previously been declared insurance write offs, and staff posted false positive reviews concerning the performance of the business.

Prosecutors told the court that both men were working under the direction and control of Nasser Asfi, 46, of Barry.

Zahid Rasul pleaded guilty to three offences of supplying a dangerous product and six offences of engaging in an unfair commercial practice. Abdullah Rasul pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and one count of supplying a dangerous product.

Nasser Asfi pleaded guilty to one count of breaching the terms of a criminal behaviour order on February 1 and is due to be sentenced today (May 3). 

In mitigation the court were told that Zahid Rasul was in employment, had some health concerns and had separated from his wife because of these proceedings.

Abdullah Rasul, 19, is currently in college and lives with his parents. 

In summing up, Judge Neil Bidder told the court that the defendants had “deliberately misled customers and sold them cars which were dangerous”.

The judge did accept that Zahid Rasul was simply the "tool of Mr Asfi" but added that he had set a "bad example to his son". 

Abdullah Rasul was sentenced to a 12 month community order for each offence to run concurrently and to carry out an unpaid work requirement for 80 hours. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £85.

His father, Zahid Rasul, was given 24 months imprisonment for each offence, which was suspended for 18 months.

He was ordered to carry out unpaid work for 150 hours, to pay a victim surcharge of £115 and compensation orders to three victims, totalling £1272.

Vale of Glamorgan councillor Hunter Jarvie, member of the joint committee for Shared Regulatory Services said: “This was an appalling disregard for the safety of road users by Mr Asfi.

"He blatantly exploited two people for his own gain.

"Our Trading Standards team has worked tirelessly to bring these individuals to justice and we’re pleased that no one was injured as a result of driving vehicles which were clearly not fit for the road.

“We urge residents to take their time when deciding on their next vehicle purchase.

"If the description of the car sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

"Carry out checks of the car online first to see if it has been involved in an accident or has any outstanding finance on it.

"These checks can be done on your phone or tablet once you know the vehicle registration number. No matter how much pressure a salesman is putting on you to buy a vehicle, do your checks first.

"You won’t regret it.”