A SHAFTON pensioner has been jailed after continuing to manage his engineering business despite being disqualified as the company’s director.

Leslie Crossland, 75, of Netherfield Croft, admitted acting as a director of R and L Electrical Engineers Ltd (R and L) and R and L Installations Ltd (BMS) when he was banned from doing so.

The electrical engineer also failed to inform Insolvency Service officials that he had withdrawn four of his pensions, disposing of £23,300 in assets in the months before he was declared bankrupt.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

His 2008 disqualification was for failing to deliver accounting records to the liquidator and ignoring a previous ten-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 and L.

Richard, 45, also of Netherfield Croft, was handed a ten-month jail term, suspended for two years, at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday.

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

But his dad, who has been described as a repeat offender, was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

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.

“We will continue to work hard to ensure the UK remains a safe and fair place to do business.”

R and L was established in September 2016, continuing the business of RL Installations run by Leslie and Richard but as a limited company, not sole tradership as had been the case before.

BMS was incorporated in November 2018 when it became clear that R and L would be entering administration.

Leslie was serving his 14-year director ban at the time both companies were trading.

Richard was appointed as director of R and L in January 2018 and BMS when it was set up in November 2018.

In interviews with the Insolvency Service, Richard Crossland admitted that his father made the executive decisions for both companies, not him.

Leslie was declared bankrupt in January 2020.

Both him and his son had outstanding debts to a fellow electrical company of more than £40,000.

Two months after his bankruptcy, Leslie failed to inform the Official Receiver that he had drawn down on four of his pensions just months before his bankruptcy, with money transferred to his own account and £9,000 paid to his wife to buy a car.

He signed documents stating he had not transferred, sold or given away any of his personal possessions or business assets in the previous five years.

Similarly, he also declared that he did not have any personal pension arrangements.

These inaccurate declarations, referred to in this case as failing to inform the Official Receiver of the disposal of property, were found to be offences under the Insolvency Act 1986.

Leslie and Richard were each disqualified as company directors again in 2020, this time for the maximum 15 years and 11 years respectively.

Ashley Crossland, the wife of Richard, was handed a two-year conditional discharge for also assisting Leslie in breaching his director ban.

The 35-year-old, of Marsala Walk, Darfield, Barnsley, was the director of R and L between September 2016 and January 2018.