“Wheeler dealer” jailed after defrauding agricultural firms

Barry Mackland was found guilty of theft and fraud between February and June 2022, which cost three agricultural companies £630,000. 

He operated on his own account and through North East Plant Sales (Scotland) Limited, which bought and sold plant and machinery for the agriculture, groundcare and construction industries. 

Mr Mackland told other businesses that the cheques he presented to them for tractors and machinery would be honoured if they were handed to a bank.  

However, there were insufficient funds in his account to make the payments, but he still obtained goods worth tens of thousands of pounds, said the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

The offences involved two firms in Forfar, one in Stonehaven and a fourth in Lincolnshire. Scottish dealers were persuaded to supply vehicles worth £500,000 knowing the cheques would bounce – payment was never made and the vehicles were not returned.

The company based in Lincolnshire paid Mr Mackland £52,200 for a JCB telehandler but never received it – and calls to find out where it was went unanswered.

Mr Mackland was previously convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh in July, and sentenced on 14th August at the High Court in Glasgow.

Dealings based on trust

On sentencing Lord Harrower commented: “You were not the con-man who tricks an unsuspecting stranger out of his money and is never seen again. Most of your customers had dealt with you over many years.  

“These dealings were based almost entirely on trust, and for many years your business appears to have flourished.  

“However, when things started to go wrong for you, as they did in the spring of 2022, your wheeling and dealing exposed your customers to unacceptable levels of risk.

“You may not have been robbing Peter to pay Paul, but you fraudulently exploited your customers’ good will in an increasingly desperate attempt to keep your business going.”

Serious crimes

Lord Harrower added: “As I said to you when you were convicted, these were serious crimes, and they have caused losses of over £600,000 to several individuals and companies.  

“Some customers, having traced their equipment, discovered that it had been made subject to the prior claims of a finance company. It is unclear from the information available to me how much, if anything, they will be able to recover in the liquidation of your company or in your own sequestration.”

He concluded by saying that a “substantial prison sentence is inevitable” and sentenced Mr Mackland to five years.

Moira Orr, who leads on major crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: 

“Fraud is not a victimless crime. It strikes at and erodes the basis of trust upon which all business rightly depends. We take such criminality very seriously. 

“Businesses and individuals suffered considerable financial harm as a consequence of Barry Mackland’s crimes.  

“But thanks to partnership working between Police Scotland and the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service, he has been brought to account for his crimes.”

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