Disgraced Fleetwood Town Football Club owner Andy Pilley jailed at Preston Crown Court for £15m fraud

Disgraced football club owner Andy Pilley has been jailed for 13 years for mis-selling energy contracts to the tune of £15m.

The owner of Fleetwood Town Football Club appeared at Preston Crown Court for sentencing today alongside his sister Michelle Davidson, 49, and two other associates - 52-year-old Lee Qualter from Cleveleys and 38-year-old Joel Chapman from Willerby in Yorkshire.

All four defendants were charged with offences relating to a multi-million pound fraud involving the mis-selling of energy contracts at three companies. They were found guilty by a jury on May 19 at the end of an eight-month trial.

In a previous hearing it was heard the fraud was estimated to have reached £15m.

The prosecution was brought by National Trading Standards. Pilley was found guilty of fraudulent trading, fraud by false representation and being involved in the acquisition, retention, use or control of the proceeds of fraudulently mis-sold energy contracts.

The court heard that at the heart of the fraud was a web of interconnected companies that misled innocent small businesses across the UK. Through sham company structures associated with Business Energy Solutions Ltd, BES Commercial Electricity Ltd and Commercial Power Ltd, Pilley and his associates were responsible for targeting small business owners and deceiving them into signing long-term energy contracts between 2014 and 2016.

Pilley's barrister Jonathan Laidlow urged the judge not to come down too hard on the club owner, saying his client was "fundamentally a good man who has led and is capable of leading a productive and worthwhile life." He added: "Mr Pilley is the first to admit he is not without fault and he is undoubtedly scarred by the mistakes he has made."

Mr Laidlow said Pilley had "built a business which provided huge employment and economical benefits to the people of the area." He had "remained true to his roots by being committed to the area in which he grew up." And he added that the convictions would be "humiliating and humbling for him and a very severe punishment.

"He will not be able to face this fall from grace in privacy. Yet he remains upbeat in the face of adversity that might cow others."

Pilley, 53, was jailed for a total of 13 years and disqualified from being a director for 13 years.

Davidson, who wept as the judge passed sentence, was jailed for six years and disqualified as director for nine years.

Qualter was jailed for seven years and disqualified as director for nine years.

Chapman was jailed for eight months.MORE TO FOLLOW