Engineer jailed for breaching director disqualification

A Yorkshire electrical engineer who continued to manage his businesses while he was disqualified as a company director has been jailed.

Leslie Crossland, of Netherfield Croft, Shafton, Barnsley, was sentenced to 16 months in prison by Sheffield Crown Court.

The 75-year-old had previously admitted acting as a director of R&L Electrical Engineers Ltd (R&L) and R&L (BMS) Installations Ltd (BMS) when he was banned from doing so.

He also failed to inform Insolvency Service officials that he had withdrawn four of his pensions, disposing of £23,300 in assets in the months before he was declared bankrupt.

Crossland was already serving a 14-year director disqualification, which began in November 2008, at the time he was managing R&L and BMS. His 2008 disqualification was for failing to deliver accounting records to the liquidator and ignoring a previous 10-year director ban from September 2005.

He was also jailed in 2014 for breaching the 14-year disqualification.

Crossland was supported in breaching his most recent directorship ban by Richard Crossland, his son, who was also sentenced after failing to deliver records to the liquidator for R&L.

Richard Crossland, 45, also of Netherfield Croft, Shafton, Barnsley, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, at the same hearing.

He was also ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work, five days of rehabilitation activity, and pay £2,000 in costs.

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Leslie Crossland clearly breached the terms of his director disqualification, making all the executive decisions and using deceptive tactics such as impersonating those who were named as directors of his companies.

“He is a repeat offender, with this not being the only time he has blatantly ignored director bans in the past.

“Crossland was actively enabled to carry out these actions by his son, who allowed him to continue as a company director in all but name.

“The public deserves to be protected from those who are unfit to direct or manage company affairs, putting them at risk of financial harm.”