THE OWNER of a Worcester based nail and beauty training college has been spared jail after she swindled students out of £23,000.
Kay Turford, 60, of Crookbarrow Road, Norton, had admitted to 11 counts of engaging, either knowingly or recklessly, in a commercial practice that contravened the requirements of professional diligence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 whilst trading as Elite Nail and Beauty Academy.
An investigation by Worcestershire Trading Standards Service revealed that between September 2014 and November 2015, Turford had failed to register students with the official awarding body, the Vocational Training Charitable Trust.
In total, Turford took £22,812 from the students who believed they would achieve a qualification at the end of the course.
The cost of the courses ranged from £500 to £2,583. However, the VTCT registration fees ranged from as little as £31 up to £90.
During the trial, the court heard how in September 2013 Elite Nail and Beauty Academy was approved as a training centre by VTCT which allowed the academy to offer NVQ courses up to level two.
Initially, Turford made student registrations. However, between September 2014 and November 2015 she failed to register large numbers of students despite taking payment for the courses and registration fees.
Despite completing their courses the students were unable to obtain the qualifications they had worked hard for, leaving them unable to obtain employment in the industry many of them had dreamed of working in.
In mitigation Turford claimed that the business was taken over by the Weston Spencer Group in 2015 and that she mistakenly believed that they would register the students.
Clare Fear, defending, said Turford was a woman of previous good character.
She stressed Turford did not set up the enterprise with the intention of relieving the students of their money and that her actions were reckless rather than dishonest, believing matters would ‘right themselves’.
Turford was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years and has been ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
Coun Lucy Hodgson, County Council Cabinet member with responsibility for Trading Standards, said: “This has been a complex and challenging case for our Trading Standards team to investigate.
“The way the case has been handled and the results achieved highlight the skills of our team and the diligent way they go about protecting the public.
“Our small dedicated team of officers actively investigate criminal complaints of this type and will continue to do so. It is vital in ensuring that consumers are protected from this type of reckless business activity as more people look to self-employment for their future. We will continue to follow up this kind of allegation in the future.
“The fact that the defendant was only spared prison because of the issues outlined by the presiding Judge clearly shows how serious these matters are.”
