A case taken by the National Consumer Agency resulted in a conviction against a Galway city car trader for 'clocking' a second hand car by reducing the mileage before selling it.

Oleksandr Tabachuk, a former car salesman trading as Sasha Auto Sales and Repairs, Ballybane Industrial Estate appeared before Galway District Court for breaches of the Consumer Protection Act 2007.

The offences related to providing false information about a vehicle's mileage, believed to have been reduced by 15,000 miles and also providing an NCT certificate with the false mileage reading on it. A customer purchased the vehicle, a second hand car, for €4,000 after being misled as to its true mileage.

In a sitting of Galway District Court Judge Mary Fahy described the act of clocking as "a serious offense which merited a large fine". Mr. Tabachuk was fined €1,200. That is the maximum allowable at district court level. He was also ordered to pay back to the buyer the €4,000 originally paid for the car.

An official statement from the NCA stated: "Mr Tabachuk was convicted of breaches of the Consumer Protection Act 2007: misleading a consumer by providing false information in relation to a vehicle's prior history, namely a false mileage reading on the vehicle's odometer, and also providing an NCT Cert with the false mileage reading on it."
Commenting on the conviction after the judgement the Chief Executive of the National Consumer Agency, Ann Fitzgerald said, "The NCA takes the practice of clocking and the sale of clocked cars very seriously as it deceives consumers and can cause serious financial loss to them. The granting of the compensation order is very significant as it requires Mr Tabachuk to return the money paid by the consumer when they purchased the vehicle. This sends the message to traders that misleading practices such as this will be robustly dealt with by the Agency."