Fraudulent West Berkshire auctioneer boss ordered to compensate victims

Glenn Norcliffe ordered to stump up £124,000 to 'fleeced' Cameo customers

THE former manager of notorious firm Cameo auctioneers has been ordered to repay £124,000 in ill-gotten gains.

Glenn Norcliffe must stump up the sum or face a further 12 months in prison.

In March, Norcliffe was jailed for four years at Reading Crown Court for his part in the racket.

The boss of the now-defunct Midgham firm, Jonathan King, was jailed for five years.

King’s wife Beverley received a two-year sentence, suspended for two years, plus 150 hours’ unpaid work.

During the trial in December last year, jurors had heard how clients were cheated, “fobbed off” or sent dud cheques, and that bank accounts of unsuspecting online bidders were raided.

The true scale of the deception was probably greater than £300,000, the court heard.

Sixty-six-year-old King, of Mattock Way, Abingdon, Oxon, his wife Beverley and Norcliffe, of Marcuse Road, Caterham, Surrey, were convicted of a total of 11 offences committed between 2009 and 2012.

Judge Stephen John remarked on all three defendants’ lack of remorse and told King: “The way in which you treated your clients over a substantial period was nothing short of disgraceful.”

Turning to Norcliffe, he said he had “behaved with calculated dishonesty towards clients” and added: “The stratagem used repeatedly and routinely by you... was to mark up cheque stubs so that they appeared to show that monies had been paid to clients whereas they were paid... to you personally”.

On November 12, Norcliffe was back in the dock before Judge Stephen John for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The court heard evidence about his benefit from crime and he was ordered to repay £124,526.15 plus more than £23,000 in costs. If the money is not repaid in a timely manner he faces another 12 months in prison.

West Berkshire’s executive member for trading standards, Marcus Franks (Con, Speen), said this week: “This order for compensation is very welcome.

"Whilst it is some way short of the total amount lost by former customers it does however recompense a proportion of some of that loss and removes the benefit from the crimes committed by Glenn Norcliffe.

“West Berkshire Council, having considered the impact on victims, has asked for this to be paid to victims as compensation.

“We also welcome the default sentence of 12 months imprisonment which we hope will focus his mind on ensuring the order is paid in full in a timely manner.”