First of all may I thank all of the well-wishers who have
been so kind as to write to me offering their condolences re the rogue traders
I have recently had the misfortune to be robbed by.
Thank you too to all those victims of this loathsome pair of
individuals who have written to me to tell me their stories. I promise that I
will do everything I can to bring these people to justice.
For those of you who do not know the story I shall give you
a brief outline of events.
In May I decided to change my print company as I wasn’t
happy with the way the sixth edition of the A
to Z of almost Everything was printed. It had always been a Royal size book
but CPI Antony Rowe (Clowes) initially typeset the book incorrectly – not
leaving enough space for the pagination - and then omitted the side titles
causing me to have to have the book re-typeset for the second print run.
The book consequently had to be restructured in A4 which
effectively meant I earned no profit whatsoever throughout the print runs as
their costs were prohibitive to say the least and I ended up trying to keep
sales down to save myself money.
I placed ‘UK Printers’ in a Google search and a company
calling itself UK Print Ltd came up at the top of the list so I rang the London
number on the website and spoke to a jovial Welshman calling himself Stuart.
‘Stuart’ immediately gave me the hard sell and told me about
how he printed work for the British Museum and had countless positive
testimonies. He went on to say he knew my typesetter and had ‘done a couple of
jobs for him’. He also told me that CPI were known to be a very arrogant bunch
and that he could do a much better hands-on job for me, would turnaround the
book within a week instead of the ten working days CPI took and when I
suggested I was taking a bit of a risk with him he replied “It is me who is
taking the risk Trev as I’ll offer you the same 90 day terms you receive from
Clowes so if you don’t like my work then you don’t pay me”.
Time went by and alarms bells started to ring as ‘Stuart’
became elusive. And then an email turned up saying that for the first print run
he would require the money up front. By now I had invested considerable time
and effort into the project and my deadline of October 1 was looming large and after
discussing things with my typesetter I took a sharp intake of breath and
decided I would have to trust this guy.
Deadlines came and went and the panic started to set in. I decided
to copy my typesetter into all email as a precaution. ‘Stuart’ now became ever-
more elusive and just did not reply to the proliferation of email sent him,
protesting that something must be wrong with his filter. Stuart tends to have
an answer for every situation however unbelievable those answers appear to be.
He certainly didn’t like the fact that I had a witness to our business dealings
and on a rare group reply suggested my typesetter would soon get fed up being
copied in to email, to which I replied it was only until evidence of the book
was produced.
After receiving my
money all went quiet for some time but Stuart then turned up out of the blue
with apologies and said the book would be at the two wholesalers for October 24th.
He even gave me his mobile number so I could contact him directly. He never
once answered this phone nor was he available on the original London number
although on occasion a young boy would answer to tell me ‘Stuart’ was not
available but he would get him to ring me - he never did ring of course.
The catalogue of lies increased
daily but I was still disposed to believe the book was being printed as I was
being texted progress reports.
I did however by now fear for the quality of the work as ‘Stuart’
had shown scant regard for any of his sales puffs and clearly was telling lies
about the turnaround within a week, the printing press he owned in Gravesend,
the dedicated hands-on staff, the work done for my typesetter, and the 90 day
terms.
I was by now getting even less sleep than normal as every friend I told
the story too was convinced I was dealing with a conman and however plausible ‘Stuart’
appeared to be all the signs were there that this man was a complete and utter
fantasist, a crook, robber, fraudster call him what you will.
Nothing ever
transpired as he said it would and then he became abusive and vague. He started
looking for trouble and for reasons to be disruptive. I decided to look into
this man a little further as nothing added up. I asked to meet him so I could
show him the book but he flatly refused and told me it wasn’t necessary.
On the morning of the 24th I rose from bed at 8
and received a phone call from 'Stuart' to tell me the book was printed but that
the binding was incomplete because he thought it was a softback! He said my
typesetter must have sent the wrong spec despite the spec clearly stating the
book had endpapers and a dust-sheet which are only applied to hardbacks!
At this point I actually cried on the phone, a combination
of the deterioration in June’s health and the frustration as my worst
nightmares were being realised. All my advance sales were cancelled and now I
didn’t know what to do.
At the beginning of proceedings back in May I had
informed ‘Stuart’ that this book had sold more than a million copies since its
first edition in 2001 and now this man ended our conversation with “Well you’ve
sold three million books what’s another few thousand”.
It was a nasty
facetious comment that began to unravel the true nature of this man who had previously
ingratiated himself to me by appearing to be so concerned about June’s health.
Stuart then gave me four further dates when the book could
be booked in to the wholesalers and justified himself by acting as if he was
divorced from the actual printing process and didn’t know what was going on
although by now I already knew he was a one-man band, a farmer at best, a cold
calculated thief at worst.
By now I had got an investigator onto this chap and on
November 17th everything came to a head. On the Thursday morning 'Stuart' rang to tell me yet again the book would be delivered “tomorrow” but
when I suggested that by now I should be on the second print run he gave the
game away by saying “why not increase your order now Trev and I can offer you a
much cheaper price” This instantly alerted me to the fact he had never printed
any books as otherwise how could he possibly give me the normal quantity discount
when the first run was complete?
Later that morning I was sent two articles about this man,
one by post and another via email from someone he had also defrauded
I sent the above article to Mr Neil Malcolm Stuart John and as
expected he went into liquidation that same day.
Over the course of the next week his case was escalated four
times and landed in the lap of the Official Receiver in Manchester.
Clair Rosina Hunnisett and Neil Malcolm Stuart John are in
fact partners in crime and partners in life. They usually steal fairly small
amounts in the knowledge that victims would be dissuaded from suing as the
costs are prohibitive.
Unfortunately on the same day that the truth was outed my
June had a suspected stroke and was admitted to East Surrey Hospital and also diagnosed
with a sepsis and urinary infection.
As I explained in my previous blog June no longer has any
cognitive ability whatsoever and I was informed within days that she would
never be able to come home again.
June is still in East Surrey today, Christmas Day – awaiting
placement in a nursing home.
Today I lifted her onto a commode as her diverticulosis
meant she was having one of her bouts of extreme diarrhoea. I was covered in
faeces and whilst I was washing my hands and talking to a cycling friend of
mine whose mother happens to be in the same bay as June, calamity struck as an
almighty scream and crash could be heard as June fell off the commode and into
some nearby chairs and table.
So that was June’s
Christmas, no turkey for her, in fact she couldn’t even manage any puree food and
all I could feed her was a little soft ice cream as she was able to suck it up
between her teeth.
Quite ironic I thought whilst I looked at the distressed
face of this angelic soul who is universally loved by all and sundry. Tears
flowed for most of the rest of the day and my mind wandered to Clair Rosina
Hunnisett and Neil Malcolm Stuart John and I imagined them tucking into their
roast turkey oblivious to the dreams and aspirations of so many people,
including children, they have shattered by their greed.
The couple have had three months to return my money but I
have heard nothing from them or their solicitors Tonner Johns Ratti although I
wrote to Jemma at Tonner some weeks ago. But……..
The mechanism has already started and I promise this couple
will get their just desserts.
I’d like to thank all my friends from so many walks of life
who have offered advice and more in many cases. I am fortunate to have met a
lot of influential and able people through my career dealings from top
policemen and security agents to trained soldiers and elite fighting sportsmen.
Although I am grateful to all those friends who have offered
very real help in some very colourful and expressive ways I have declined all
such offers in the belief that this couple will eventually see the light and
repent their sins and return my money in full and perhaps also pay my costs.
Before criminal proceedings it is important to have my money
returned - I need it for June’s ongoing health needs – and I have started the
process.
By the way, the article is just the tip of the iceberg.
Victims have contacted me on a regular basis and all the while the evidence is
growing and it is not just the fraudulent use of the cloak of limited liability,
in my case it is actual robbery plain and simple with no intent to give me any
consideration for my money.
Because of their wrongdoing this couple are likely to be
liable in a civil action above their £1 shareholding but also criminally as
there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that my books were ever printed or
likely to be printed. It was just theft. It would be quite wrong of me to
second guess the outcome of proceedings but suffice to say I have experts on my
side and am very confident this couple will see the light eventually.
Out of interest, their modus operandi is to satisfy very
small orders such as guide books and pamphlets but not on their own press in Gravesend
as they tell you because they do not own a press in Gravesend, and all they do
is take the money in and try to farm the work out to the cheapest bidder
usually in eastern Europe.
So they are not printers at all. You or I could do
the same thing but farming is a scurrilous way to make money even if done
ethically if that is not an oxymoron.
So basically they take your money and
then try to arrange a print for you and cream the money off the top. They lie
by telling you they can produce in a week but as they do not have a press they
haven’t a clue when they can produce. On large orders such as mine they just
don’t bother as it is far easier to go into liquidation and then open up under
another name the following day. They were in liquidation from another company whilst
dealing with me which is why their company details disappeared from my search
engines.
It is quite a well-oiled machine and my investigator has
discovered the authorities have been trying to nail this couple for 26 years
would you believe.
On one occasion when Jemma from Tonner Johns Ratti emailed
me she suggested her client had not given me a date for book production and on
that fateful Thursday morning initially offered to produce the books, or part
order of a thousand, by December 5th. What happened!
What Jemma should know is that I was already expecting this
email as most of the victims receive the same email and usually a follow-up one
where the couple offer to pay back the money in instalments but invariably do
not keep to this arrangement.
In the meantime my investigator traced the bank and the
address of Mr John and has been keeping him under surveillance in case he tries
to skip the country as even fantasists realise when reality beckons.
At one point I almost got my money bank via
Barclays but perversely I am glad I didn’t as I want this couple stopped for
good and feel it is my duty.
Apparently Clair Rosina Hunnisett and Neil Malcolm Stuart
John aka as Stuart when he is robbing people at the behest of Clair, are
pillars of the community on Barry Island and have put it round the island that
their son is a Premiership footballer!
Neil rarely goes out although Clair was
happy to take in my written request for the return of the money they stole from
me although she has not had the good grace to reply to me.
Perhaps she thinks I
will just write the money off that I took years to save.
Isn’t it strange
though that I requested to be placed on the creditor’s list although we all
know I am not owed a business debt at all. My money was hardly cleared when I
sussed them out and you would think they would have shown a glimmer of human
decency and paid me back as it is not as if they have spent the money on
anything. Shows a certain criminal intent that does themselves no favours
methinks.
Yes as some of my friends guessed they do not have a post
box at their home at 4, Pioden For, Barry Island, Barry, South Glamorgan CF62
5DD as you can imagine in their line of business with an ever-increasing number
of irate victims in tow it would only be a matter of time before someone
inflamed the situation – literally.
I wanted to give these people three months to repay me
because as a Christian I feel honour-bound to appeal to their better natures
before deciding on a more decisive course of action.
Time is running out for Clair Rosina Hunnisett and Neil
Malcolm Stuart John aka as Stuart and all I can do is pray that they face up to
the fact that they have stolen a considerable amount of money from me and
really need to pay back the money now to mitigate matters for themselves.
Incidentally, my faith in British printers was restored when I contacted an old friend at Orion who put me in touch with the Glasgow-based Bell & Bain.
I have to say that Derek and his crew have been magnificent and despite it being the busiest time of year managed to produce my doubled order in double quick time to ensure I salvaged something of my usual Christmas market. The print quality is exceptional and gentleman that he is Derek even insisted on me sending him a signed copy as he is such a fan of the book - fabulous, what a contrast to what I've been used to.
