Emneth man Liam Carman avoids jail after missing car finance payments and illegally selling vehicle

A 25-year-old who fell behind on his car finance payments and decided to illegally sell the vehicle has been sentenced.

Liam Carman, of Hollycroft Road in Emneth, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he admitted theft of a Volkswagen Golf worth £20,500 at the time.

Carman signed up to the finance agreement with Oodle Financial Services in March 2022. It was his first car.

However, on February 8 last year, Carman began to miss monthly repayments for the vehicle. The agreement required him to pay back £40,000 over a period of time, including interest.

The dealership decided to terminate the agreement on May 8 last year and ordered Carman to return the car.

However, Carman did not and continued to ignore the letters the company sent him.

A bailiff came to collect the Volkswagen from Carman’s address, but it was not there.

Searches were carried out, but the car was not located. It transpired he had sold it.

In mitigation, Tiffany Meredith told the court that Carman did not think the dealership would agree to giving him finance in the first place.

“He was working seasonally at the sugar beet factory at the time,” the solicitor said.

“He was pitching for a car that was too big for him to pay for a young seasonal worker.

“Clearly, there was planning on his part, though he did make £10,000 worth of payments.”

The solicitor explained that Carman is now out of work and has a three-year-old son.

She added that he sold the car to another person but “only received two payments for it”.

“His immaturity made him believe that these people would pay him,” she added.

Carman was handed a 34-week jail term, which was suspended for 12 months.

He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and to pay Oodle Financial Services £500 in compensation.

Carman will also pay a £187 victim surcharge.